begun by Ellen Nicholson Brundige, RKR VI
lovingly dedicated to all the friends and denizens of the Realm
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Introduction ........................................................................................................................................2
Origin .................................................................................................................................2
Elsinore Semi-Annual Nature Walk .................................................................................2
Royal Seal of Elsinore ........................................................................................................2
Book I.1. April 15th, 1989- September 29th, 1989 ..........................................................................4
Map 4
Summary.......................................................................................................................................5
The Legend of Queen Elspeth and Sir Scorpión .................................................................5
Tale of Gemini, twin of Queen Elspeth .............................................................................7
First [real-life] Royal Banquet of Elsinore ........................................................................8
Scorpión’s departure...........................................................................................................9
Lost Volumes ......................................................................................................................................10
Volume II, Book I ..............................................................................................................................11
Royal Decree ................................................................................................................................11
Map 12
summary .......................................................................................................................................12
Volume II, Book II. Mar 1 — Nov 8, 1989 .....................................................................................15
Map 15
summary .......................................................................................................................................16
Volume II, Book III [The Quest For Prince Fayr] Nov 8—Dec 7, 1989 ..........................................21
Map 21
Summary.......................................................................................................................................21
Vol. II, Book IV [The Quest For Fayr Cont'd] Dec. 7, 1989-Jan 25, 1990 ......................................26
Summary.......................................................................................................................................26
Aphrodisiac in the Ale Scene ..............................................................................................30
Finale of Quest ..................................................................................................................32
Volume II, Book VI January 27– February 14, 1990.......................................................................35
Detailed summary ........................................................................................................................36
Volume II, Book VII February 14—February 27, 1990 ..................................................................41
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................41
The Delbaith’s Cry for Aid.................................................................................................42
Volume II, Book VIII February 27—March 21, 1990 ....................................................................45
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................45
The Quest to Save the Delbaith .........................................................................................46
Volume II, Book IX March 21-April 22, 1990: Quest cont'd............................................................48
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................49
Volume 2, Book 10, Apr 22- Sept 12,1990: Quest cont'd ...................................................................51
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................52
Rescue of Dale and Death of Atri .....................................................................................52
Volume III, Book I Sept 12- Oct 29 1990: Quest cont'd..................................................................54
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................55
1
Volume III, Book II Oct 29-Dec 23, 1990: The Quest’s Finale .....................................................58
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................58
The Kidnapping of Kithyra ...............................................................................................59
Volume III, Book III Dec 3, 1990-Jan 29, 1991 the journey home .................................................61
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................61
The Food Fight ..................................................................................................................63
The Great Body Swap ........................................................................................................64
Volume III, Book IV Jan 29- March 2, 1991 ................................................................................64
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................64
Chaiais at the Inn of the Rowan Tree ...............................................................................66
Volume III, Book V. March 2-April 1, 1991 ....................................................................................66
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................66
banquet ..............................................................................................................................67
The Legend of the Duque de Alba .....................................................................................68
Volume III, Book VI, Apr1-23, 1991 ................................................................................................69
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................70
The Quest of the Star Sisters..............................................................................................70
The Fall of Sir Ælthon .......................................................................................................71
Volume III, Book VII April 23, 1991-May 18, 1991 .......................................................................72
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................72
Volume IV, Book I, Sept. 3-29, 1991 ...............................................................................................74
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................75
wedding of Kithyra and Sir Ælthon .................................................................................75
The Hiatus .........................................................................................................................75
The Journey to Yardan’s coronation ..................................................................................76
Volume IV, Book II. Oct 2— 29, 1991 .............................................................................................77
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................78
The Quest to the Spiral Well (Friedrich’s Metamorphosis) ................................................78
Volume IV , Book III Sept. 29- Nov. 14, 1991 ................................................................................79
Royal Decree, Most recent wording of .........................................................................................80
Detailed Summary ........................................................................................................................81
Ehecatl vs. Tasyn'ka ..........................................................................................................81
The Death of Derayn .........................................................................................................81
The Snares of the Keeper ....................................................................................................82
Epilogue: Passing the Rattle ..............................................................................................................84
Appendix: Advice to Christy and Other Future Royal Knights .........................................................87
Index
...........................................................................................................................................89
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1
The Chronicles of Elsinore: A Guide to the Past
This guide, begun on 13th September, Friday 1991, by Ellen Brundige ’93 (RKR V),
will hopefully serve as a useful index to the growing number of Elsinore volumes. There are
twenty Diaries currently housed in Bryn Mawr Archives, ending with Volume III Book VIII,
and excluding those lost during the summer of 1989. While by no means comprehensive,
this index will include plot summaries of each diary, geographical notes on cities and places,
characters’ names, authors where known, and miscellaneous information. To locate a given
topic from Microsoft Word, choose the “Find...” function under the Edit menu and type a
word you wish to locate.
Origin: In two conversations with Tammy Campbell (Sir Scorpión), I learned a little
about the Realm’s origins. She founded Elsinore in December 1984, establishing the Diary
in the Erdman Backsmoker after becoming persona non gratia at High Table, the medieval
club based in Denbigh. In Elsinore’s earliest form, each person wrote their own character in
the form of first person monologues or speeches, usually addressed to another character.
Entries would sometimes reflect real-life events as in a personal diary, but were disguised in
medieval metaphors so that casual readers would not be privy to personal information.
Friends could even leave messages for each other in the diary if they did not see each other
during the day. Thus the Diary was not only a fantasy story with multiple authors, it could
also occasionally be a poetic metaphor for Bryn Mawr life.
Before long people began realizing the full potential of the Diary, inventing
additional characters which were not in any way autobiographical, holding lengthy dialogues
between characters, and occasionally devising actual plots. These changes are evident even
in the first diary. However, the four years between 1985 and 1989 were lost, so the gradual
transition from personal diary to fictional narrative has not been documented. From the time
the first diary was begun if not before, a separate, more traditional Erdman Backsmoker Diary
existed, in which many of the s ame people wrote.
Volume I, Book I
During my May Day ’90 conversation with Tammy, I learned that the original diary,
begun in December ’84, was stolen from the Backsmoker even before it had been completed.
A replacement (which I call vol. I, Book 1.1) was begun on April 15th, 1985, into which
everything that could be remembered from the stolen diary was recopied. April 15th is the
date on which I have celebrated the Elsinore anniversery for the past two years. Eostar
Sunday is also the date on which the so-called ‘traditional Elsinore nature walk’ occurs, the
origins of which I am unsure. I know it took place in 1989, as an Easter Egg Hunt organized
by Rhonda Helman ’89 and Kelly Farrelly ’91, and has since then been an early morning tour
of campus and a walk through Morris woods.
This year I designed the “Royal seal of Elsinore”, a rubber stamp based on the original
coat of arms as described by Signe and Tammy. Both independently described it as having a
cup with a pentacle and rampant lions around the rim, a sun, a moon, and, sometimes, a
crown. (I could not fit the lions into the stamp, unfortunately).
2
Signe mentions a full-color flag she had been designing with the cup in the
foreground and mountains, a stream, and trees in the background. In addition to the above
symbols, most Elsinore frontispieces since 1989 have also contained a green dragon. This
began when both Jennifer Lin and Allison Fisk drew green dragons on two consecutive diary
frontispieces, and I, being a newcomer, thought this was probably traditional and threrefore
kept the dragon on the next several frontispieces which I ended up illustrating.
3
Book I.1: April 15th, 1989- September 29th, 1989.
Inside cover:
“Laws of Elsinore by Royal Decree
1. Do not remove diary from its location.
2. Do not use rude or vulgar language. Abide by the laws of chivalry.
3. Do not manipulate other people’s characters.
4. Ye may use the map opposite to indicate from whence thou art come.
thine own mountains, forests, or islands.
5. Use only ink in the diary.”
Draw in
Map: According to Tammy, originally loosely based on the U.S., so that some authors
had their character’s place of origin roughly where their real home was located. The map was
considerably different from our current map, since it was only later that the first standard
stencil was made by Allison Fisk (’93?) in 1989. Amryth, Eisterneith, and Elsinore are the
only familiar landmarks. Elsinore is on the east coast, approximately where Philadephia
would be, and is generally described as a castle without a moat, situated at the rim of the
cliffs overlooking the sea and a short gravelly beach to the east. West of the castle is a town
clustered near the walls, which I imagine to be in a horseshoe pattern; these are surrounded
by some cultivated meadows, fields, and finally the forest.
On the original map: Amryth, home of Lady K (in reality, Elizabeth Scott-Janda,
’90, from Sacramento, CA and now residing in Arlington, TX), is on the west coast. The
northwest tip of the continent is covered by the Great Glacier. Eisterneith is off the map to
the west, and, “even further”, Xelideh. In the general area akin to the Rocky Mountains is the
Wild Woods in which lie the Sacred Groves of the Goddess. Directly east of these is the
Great Labial Forest. Akin to Idaho is the Denullan Mountain Range, which runs north to the
sea where are the Cliffs of Ice and the Cliffs of Frozen Water, the latter of which was
mysteriously written in sometime after ’87, when the diary was aready archived, according to
Tammy. In the exact middle of the continent is the Mountain of the Phoenix. Running down
from the northeast is the Withollowmimon mountain range bordered to the west by a river of
the same name. In the heart of the mountains is the castle of Lady Ivy, where later Mará’zeth
and Dur-Ashûr would be. Running up from the south in the area akin to Alabama is the
River Wundel, the western border of Ilhume forest. Castle Erdman is placed somewhat inland
and 2/3 of the way down the east coast. Elphera, Land of the Plunderers, lies somewhere
offshore to the east; several unnamed islands are scattered between it and the Elsinorean
coast. The Shadow Isle lies east of the southernmost eastern seaboard. Finally, the large
southwestern penninsula (akin to Baja) running almost parallel to the southern coast has one
city, Mirémdavar, and the Bay of Kimlethelsar separates it from the mainland.
Summary: All entries herein are written in first person as missives, signed and in the
present tense. The volume begins with Sir Scorpión du Forét accepting the position of Royal
Knight from Queen Elspeth and asking others to join him. Squire Karl, introduced by Tammy
and immediately handed over to Signe Hansen is knighted. There follows two entries which I
cannot read—the Welsh, Tammy says, is hers; the runes probably Annemarie Shuetz’s. Next
enters Dame Ranji (Lisa Catharine “Moon” Rollosson-Hauber), a fleeing exile with a magical
tome; the Guardian Angel (Tammy) the protector of Queen Elspeth; Lady K (Elisabeth ScottJanda, ’89) of Amryth; Lady Rhiannon (Annemarie Shuetz, ’89) who seeks her beloved
4
prince; a creature named Litulet with “bouncey-speech”, presumably a faerie; Demizdhor
(Elizabeth Scott-Janda) of the wood of Ilhume, a shadowy woman who speaks in cryptic and
sorrowful blank verse; Holle, another creature and probably a faerie by its strange manner of
speech.
On page 13 the first quest ensues with this entry: “I am a fair princess of the realm
with no upper body strength. I am being held prisoner in the dungeon of the Castle Erdman.
Art there no fine young men who wouldst rescue me? ’Tis passing cold and my stockings
commenceth to run. —Princess Nought (Tammy)” . Although several have been drawn to
seek Demizdhor and find out more about her, Scorpión and Dame Ranji volunteer to aid
Nought.
The meddlesome Lord Fex first appeared contemplating food, and is rebuked by
Halle; Fex then asks snidely if Halle is tastey.
Shadowmere (Tammy ) appears while the quest for Princess Nought is underway; this
shadowsprite woos the Lady Kand grows from four inches to three feet in height because, he
says, of his great love. He constantly baffles K, who rebuffs him gently while trying not to
hurt his feelings, but gains for his pains only a picnic with his beloved.
Noney Mouse (Sue Allin) appears right after Shadowmere first writes; she is nearsighted and asks for a description of characters, since she “can’t place the faces with the
voices...”
Page 20-21, by the Royal Historian, contains the following:
The Legend of Queen Elspeth and Sir Scorpión
Many years ago, about nineteen in fact, there was a young child playing
in the castle gardens. Young Elspeth was the only child of Queen Elspeth and
King Kalen, and they loved her very much. In order to be sure that the young
Princess Elspeth was safe in her play, the old knight, Arden the Fair and his
friend Sir Ravier were here guards.
One day as the faire princess played, a loud commotion at the edge of the
keep caught the ear of Sir Arden. He left to investigate the noise, but as he
turned the corner from the garden to the direction of the noise, he was attacked
and caught up in a battle to save the castle from the plunderers of Elphera. He
yelled loudly for Sir Ravier to save the Princess, and then he plunged headlong
into the fight.
Sir Ravier had barely time to wrap the poor child in a piece of old
sackcloth when the plunderers had surrounded him. They did not kill him
though, but merely took him away to be a slave. As for the child, she was
taken by the plunderers and raised among them, her name changed to Elise.
It was many years later that the young Elspeth learned of her true
identity. Whereupon she decided she would seek out her own people. It was at
5
this time that Sir Ravier, having for some years been free of slavery, married,
and having a son apprenticed out to learn the skills necessary of a knight, now
learned the whereabouts of his young Queen. Sir Ravier contacted Queen
Elspeth and offered himself in service to her. His wife had died while giving
birth to their only child, Scorpion, and he was anxious for the young Queen to
regain her kingdom. So she agreed upon his service and they arranged to leave.
Meanwhile, young Scorpion has learned his lessons well and volunteers
to accompany his father and the beautiful young Elspeth. Their journey took
them far until at long last they reached the Kingdom of Elsinore. As they
journeyed to the castle crowds of people followed them, anxious to re-establish
the rule of their beloved Queen. Upon reaching the castle, Queen Elspeth gave
command that the kingdom be re-established, the town and the castle rebuild.
Her final gesture, was the knighting of the young Sir Scorpion.
This act
done, she reclaimed her throne and the kingdom became as we know it.
— Royal Historian
Next enters Sir Ophed Gurnsey, a befuddled knight (Signe ). Also Lady Ivy
Withollowmimon (Signe again), self-styled Dark Queen, issues an invitation equivalent to
“Come into my parlor”, complete with picture of spiderweb and black widow.
Seredell the Griffon-in-training and apprentice bard (Felicia Sampson (?), Tammy
thinks) arrives via “wispwight” from “the shining city of Mirémdavar on the bay of
Kimlethelsar, where I labored upon a task set for me by mine own master, Amphion, Lord of
Winds and Verses, whose tale is stranger, even, than mine own.” [we do not learn of this
tale, however]. The task was to smuggle a few bardic scrolls from Eisterneith and the “Elfblest harbor of Ensayrn.” Seredell further explains that he was in Mirémdavar for five years,
forced to flee from his birthplace of Eisterneith beyond the western sea, “as were countless
others of mine countryfolk when the troubles which now engulf that unhappy land first
begun.” He explains that he may be called upon by his old master, now in Eisterneith, to
rescue more scrolls sometime in the future. He writes in a ballad and says it was known in
Eisterneith when the Dream Lords were reawakened there.
Next enters Yrti (Sue Allin), who speaks in a language somewhat akin to
“bounceyspeech”, using odd metaphors. There are several drawings of Yrti in Elsinore, some
with wings, some four-legged and some two, all furry and done in green, blue, brown, and
black. S/he is curious about the “saltspewing humantypes” with “backturned shortlives” and
the castle, using words such as these to comment and wonder at the world of Elsinore from
an outsider’s perspective.
Finally comes word about the successful quest for princess Nought— Dame Ranji
sends a message via her crow named Gore, and Scorpión arrives with her soon afterwards.
6
At this time Alouette( MCat) returns [presumably she appeared in the first lost volume], the
Bard of Elsinore.
Several cryptic and antagonistic entries follow. A cartoon of a smiling moon with
two stars appears with the legend “the time of Gemini approacheth...” Scorpión is surprised
and disturbed by the message. Sir Evelyn the Enchanted arrives, berates all “the dwellers of
Elspeth”, calling them fools, and denouncing their “curiousity” as mere “nosy-ness”. Then
enters Kieran, saying he intends to go to Ivy and calls others to follow, declaring that they
“say much, do little.” K, Karl, Scorpión, and Ranji chastise Kieren and/or Evelyn for rude
speech.
Then Scorpión shows up at the castle gates, sorely wounded and delirious, in the first
entry which contains a form of 3rd-person narration. Several rush to his aid; a message of
two stars and an ominous laugh appear. The Lady Aurora, a healer, comes (Signe), to help
Dame Ranji heal Scorpión.
Sir Baldwin of Gummery and his dog, Bedivere (whom
Scorpión mistakes for his lady, upon which K writes a humorous note disabusing Scorpión of
this notion), arrives and seeks to know all, expressing sorrow for Scorpión’s plight.
Scorpión, when he has healed, writes the following:
28-4-85 1:00
Listen closely who wouldst know the tale of Gemini. The safety of
Elspeth depends upon this knowledge. Gemini is the sign of the twins. ’Twas
known to my father and now unto me that Elspeth, though rightful Queen, hast
a twin sister some minutes younger than she. We thought she was killed, as she
was with her mother when the castle was plundered, but we have no proof of
this. It is possible, however, to prove whether the person calling herself
Gemini is the twin to Elspeth, though the two look not alike. So, guard the
queen most closely Shadowmere. Her Majesty, Queen Elspeth has given me
leave to journey unto the forests of Ilhume to seek knowledge from the one
called Demizdhor...
A new character, Isis- (Wendy —––? Elizabeth would know, but hasn’t written back)writes of a desert home, and later describes herself as a slight lady hidden behind a lace veil
that none may know her.
Three pages are ripped out by the Royal Knight. Fex(Karen Schwartz)’s reply sheds
light on this: “Lookest, oh dear Lordly Ones, I seest no rules countering the placement of
atomic bombs. As a dark Lord, I reservest well the power to spread my fiendishness as I see
full fit. Perchance thou sayest my bomb has done full great damage, counting three pages
from the Castle Diary among its death toll. Folly, say I. In removing my work, thou hast
manipulated my character, thereby defying Law # 3 and (this is the clincher) your Queen.
Ÿ, as ever,
LORD FEX.”
There are warm words exchanged between Fex, Halle, and the Guardian Angel, who,
interestingly enough, says that “time travel is possible, but to bring something from the future
is not, the material would return to the primative state from which it was derived”. I guess
since then we have ignored this rule! (My own feelings as RKR tell me that the best
7
procedure would have been to write “however, the inhabitants of Elsinore seemed to have
unaffected by the detonation of a large atomic bomb in their immediate vicinity, perhaps
because its creator had flagrantly violated Rule #3.”)
There follows a nifty Beltane song, “Cup of Crimson”, by Jethro Tull inscribed by
Tammy.
The next unpleasant intrusion is that of Dougge the Slugge, who threatens to raise the
dead, bring a plague of insects, etc, describes the activities of his zombie armies, and is
rebuked by Halle and others. Hyacinth the wood nymph, enamoured of the color red, comes
from the Great Labial forest seeking “Nymphian frolicking”. Someone called Jackal, close
cousin of Isis, writes once, warning Hyacinth to beware the caresses of Dougge.
The “annual feast of Elsinore” is proclaimed on May 9, 5:00, trays brought to smoker
(so it seems I revived an old tradition by accident). Three names on the guest list: Tammy
Kay Campbell of Rhoads S., Sue Allin of Erdman, Kristen S. Hansen (Signe) of Erdman.
Mary Catharine Roper (MCat) was Elspeth for the occasion, her name having been chosen
out of a hat.
There is an Account of the Feast of Elsinore held on May 10th and chronicled by
“Elspeth”: “We did commence with a feast. Present were Sir Scorpión, Sir Karl, Sir Ophed,
Seredell, and a Reader. Ladies K & Rhiannon are expected presently. Following the feast,
Queen Elspeth did knight Sirs Ophed and Karl. Prior to this Sir Karl waxed Philosophical
and Bedivere, Sir Baldwin’s dog, dids’t annoy all present. The feast was presently called on
account of excessive punning and sillyness.” Tammy says Annemarie and Elizabeth showed
up later, and there was a sword, later lost, used to knight Ophed and Karl.
Soon after begins the romance of Lord Spock and Jim, with such wonderfully
suggestive lines as “I am & always have been... your friend”. (I resist the urge to “reproduce”
the whole scene here). Sir Ophed and Princess Nought parody the passage shortly afterwards.
On a more somber note, an entry of Alouette precipitates Scorpión’s departure, and
serves as a warning to every Royal Knight:
"Dearest Scorpion,
Thou speakest to me of Graffitti. Where? I see none. 'Tis irrelevant. I see no harm, annd certainly no
cause for the drastic action which thou hast proposed. Once again, thy naivete is surpassed only by thine
arrogance. Thou art naive, Scorpion- think you that aught can remain hereabouts and remain pure? Nay, 'twould
not be Bryn Mawr, then. Also, hast thou considered that perhaps graffitti hast a purpose? To annoy, perchance?
Perchance to cause removal? Think, Scorpion- do not merely read. Thou art eminently predictable, and 'tis not
only I who knows it.
Thou art also arrogant. 'Tis not thy charge anymore- this much thou hast said thyself. 'Twas thine idea,
and a good one, but one designed from th'outset to abandon its maker and thrive alone. Prithee, relinquish thy
hold on what 'tis no longer thine!
Even should any drastic action be warranted, now or in future, 'tis not thy decision alone, Scorpion.
Thou canst not act unilaterally. Thou must consult the others, for 'tis our Kingdom as much as thine. I vote nay,
Scorpion.
-the quiet but opinionated Alouette."
8
Scorpión apologizes and says he will leave. Subsequent entries say that while
Alouette’s criticisms were partially right, such a departure would sadden all. Sir Karl steps in
and asks bickerings to be set aside, in his wise and thoughful entry making it clear that the
entries of Spock and Jim were a bone of contention for Tammy. Lord Spock returns and
apologizes for having caused controversy.
(A Mistrelle Maladrienne wanders through from East o’ the sun and West o’ the
Moon.)
Sir Scorpión departs on 5/9/85, bidding loved ones adieu: to this day, I might add, we
should remember him in his journeying, as indeed all who have gone.
The Diary begins anew with K’s entry on the 6th of September; many return, but an
“anonymous esquire”, baffled by Elsinore, intrudes telling everyone that “they have lost
touch with what a dorm diary is all about”, and suggesting they call Skye (of High Table). K
notes that the regular Dorm Diary also exists, and explains about Elsinore. A Vanderbean of
Bendon Weyr also arrives, suggesting writing only on the right-hand page, a practice which
would be adopted for several years.
On September 7th Sir Karl takes up office, bidding fond wishes to Scorpión, thanks to
K for dealing with newcomers, and suggesting that the Diary of Elsinore be changed to the
“Annals of Elsinore” to eliminate some confusion. Shadowmere, Ranji, Halle, Oafhead,
Seredell, Ivy, Yrti, Isis, Spock, Baldwin all return. A W’istl of the Groves enters, describing
how the Goddess-sworn folk of the Grove were invaded from the South and killed; the sacred
trees were burned; her mother the high priestess bid her take away their teachings. Dame
Ranji falls into illness and exile for a time, and Ivy, (as Signe said, because many wanted a
plot), curses half the castle’s denizens.
________
The Lost Volumes:
Only the writers of those times know the wonders contained therein; it was following
their disappearance from the Erdman Backsmoker during the summer of 1989 that volumes
started being archived, usually at the end of a semester. I gather from references within
Elsinore itself that there were seven; I am also in debt to the following alums, who have taken
time to return or write, recalling what they can remember of the missing years...
11/25/91 ENB— In Nov 1991 I sent letters containing the summary so far and a
requests for more info to theaddresses Signe Hansen gave me earlier that semester, which
included Sue (Yrti) Allin, Moon Rollosson, and Elizabeth Griffeth & Sherman Dorn. The
replies that returned were most informative:
excerpts of letter (11/21/91) from Elizabeth Griffeth (’86) and Sherman Dorn (HC
’87), describing what was in the lost volumes as far as they could remember:
“1. Killing of Jason, featuring as many Castle females as could be gathered on short
notice and a kickline of stable boys. Jason (of the Argo) started making sexist remarks and
attempted impolite treatment of a child. The women dismembered him slowly, and the men
stood out of the way and enjoyed the show. 2. Maggie (small child) was abducted by
Martha, triggering a raucus party from Hell (almost literally) with a gigantic garish dance hall
(based on Satan's hall from Master and Margarita , featuring a fountain of blood), several
9
mathematical spaces (Hilbert was the most vocal), and various other academically- and
socially- impaired monsters. 3. The incomplete quest to defeat Lady Ivy, carried out
sporadically during our stays.”
[other writers listed in letter and not yet found elsewhere: Joe Cooke, Maura Vallis
—, Debbie Van Newkirk. ]
“Sherman was Saard and Nissa; Elizabeth wrote Itael, Nimari, Mistress Katharine,
Maggie, Dame Mary, Martha, Siegfried, Itael’s pet dragon (who fried Itael) the Wanderer,
who contributed to the short, grisly demise of Jason... Sue Allin was Yrti and Noney Mouse
and a few others. Moon was Dame R anji... Illustrators: Joe, Elizabeth Scott Janda, Maura
Vallis, Signe Hansen.”
“The Wanderer jogged around driving Sir Karl batty with his New Age-ish
philosophy. Nissa was a candle who didn’t like to be burned because his runes always
became active then. Saard was an apprentice magician. Itael was the Cosmo girl from Hell
(not literally). She and her dragon specialized in tacky and opulent decor/attire. Katharine
was a calligrapher with arthritis (Elizabeth is not), a strong and sensible middle-aged woman
(as well as a Middle Age woman), mother of Dame Mary and Maggie. Mary was a knight
who proved that idiocy under the guise of valor is not strictly a male province. Maggie was a
cute but mischievous small child who did destroy many of the volumes in the fictional
Elsinore library with crayons and scissors, to the great chagrin of Dame Ranji. (The Elsinore
library has the same configuration, topologically, as the Tardis: it depends entirely on the
story’s needs.) Martha was an evil, magically powerful woman of Hell (literally) with taste
almost as bad as Itael.”
phone conversation with Tammy on 12/2/91 :
In one of the lost volumes, Sir Scorpión was with Lady K and Demizdhor helping to
stall the great magical fire of Amryth. After this, he boarded a ship and suffered several
misadventures, including being severely injured and healed by a unicorn in Amryth, captured,
forced to serve aboard a ship as a deckhand, being blown offcourse to an island east of
Elsinore but not Shadow Isle or the continent of the Raiders, and, finally, realizing that one
of the passengers was none other than Elspeth’s lost twin Aere, oft known as Gemini and
raised by a family on one of these islands. Scorpión eventually brought her back to Elsinore,
where she and Elspeth were reunited and where she presumably still dwells.
___
Volume II, Book I, started September 16th, 1988:
First volume after the hiatus, it is written mostly in 3rd person past tense narrative,
decree and map, authors, and places are beginning to look familiar to me.
“By Royal Decree [mostly unchanged after this except as later noted]:
1. ALL ARE WELCOME in the Kingdom that do abide by the rules of chivalry, and
that do obey the laws of the Queen.
2. Please do write only in ink, that thine entry be easily legible; also, do thou write
only upon the right hand page of this book, that thine ink may not mar another’s entry.
3. Make thy character according to thy desire, but manipulate no one else’s character,
but only thine own. Thou art encouraged to note the place from whence thou dost come on
the map that doth succeed this page.
10
4. Thou art welcome and encouraged to illustrate thine adventures in thine owne
style, that all may look upon thy characters and admire thy drawings. Space in this book may
be saved for later illustration by noting the spot thou desirest lightly in pencil. Drawings may
be completed directly in this book or on separate sheets carefully afixed to its pages. Thou
mayest also comission drawings from another artist, if thou dreadest the fine arts.
5. Most importantly, DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK from the Smoker, lest others
be unable to find it. In direst need, appeal to the Royal Knight (the Queen’s Administrator)
to make special arrangements.”
Map: almost featureless; a small inland bay in the great lakes region, to the west of
which Ashern is added in what looks to me like Jennifer Lin’s handwriting; Amryth is in its
usual spot in K’s handwriting, Elsinore is slightly inland of its normal location; Kyrsath has
been added in its normal spot; the Delvian Mountains and Apollonia are down where they
should be; Fish has added Lothlanir in Derayn’s purple pen; Sithkani, another of hers, is west
south-west of Lothlanir; and there is a large area called Bob’s Bay with a city on the tip of the
southern enclosing penninsula labelled “Podunkydink” both in the San Francisco Area.
There are no other features.
Plot summary: Opens with K, now RKR after Karl, returning (opposite an author’s
illustration of her and Francis, her steed) from Amryth, her Duchy before coming to Elsinore.
Amryth has been burned, as she informs Rhiannon not much later; as well as Ilhume and
much else. She says she and a “willow witch” halted the fire, staying “long in that dark one’s
house”, thus, I imagine, Demizdhor (also Elizabeth’s), who has an illuminated entry
concerning her white and red strung harp. K then enlists the fugitive Rose of Mundania
(Rhonda Helman ’89) as a new Royal Magician, although the knight is privately dubious
about this supposed sorceress’ authenticity.
Arynn, a green-eyed, white-haired female elf, (Jennifer Lin Dec ’92) and Iris,
“Protectress of the waters”, (Julie Aiko Miyashiro ’92), a drow with the usual black skin,
white hair, violet eyes, make their first appearences, with accompanying portraits. Enter also
Spaird and Lady Espoira of Wynn Glatha (Michelle McCauley), the former a sentient harp
transformed into a man who loves the latter, his former mistress and minstrel, turned into a
harp. Spaird spends the next several volumes being baffled by his existence as a person and
seeking to find and reunite himself with Espoira, thus breaking the enchantment and
returning both to their proper form. (It turns out that Teryn (Jenn Lin), the Asgardian god of
mathematics, had been trying to turn Espoira into an immortal to replace a Valkyrie he
wanted to marry, but his magic had become muddled, thus swapping harp with harper and
sending Espoira to Hades!) There is a crayon illustration of a harper in blue, certainly
Michelle’s.
Rose has several run-ins with people including Spaird, the Lady Morissa (whose
author I can’t place) a sorceress and haughty kinswoman to the Queen, and, worst of all, with
Rhiannon. Lady Rhiannon, a nonhuman telepath (Annemarie Schuetz ’89) returns to
Elsinore to find Karl gone and Lady K throwing a temper tantrum in the mirrored ballroom
because she has gotten lost in her own castle. After sorting this out (a fine illustration of their
meeting by Elizabeth), they interview Rose in K’s office. The flustered imposter, who had
only claimed to be a sorceress because she thought she would be sent away if she could not
find a job in Elsinore, hurridly excuses herself when Rhiannon starts inquiring into her
training; K and Rhiannon are amused and are discussing books on magic when Arynn bursts
11
in pursued by Iris. (“AHA! There you are, you miserable heap of rags!”, as the illustration
says). Rhiannon disappears, to K’s consternation, due to the author’s absence, and K is left
to deal with Iris, who is furious at the self-styled Beggarqueen for disturbing her slumber. K
snags an underfootman to lead Iris to quarters and a bath, then jumps out the window, afraid
of getting lost but determined to extricate herself from the unwanted encounter.
Arynn follows suit, and says in a monologue that she is “playing the part of a fool” for
the sake of her sister, Acyrr, who is being held hostage by Karrylla the Diviner of Ashern.
Acyrr will be punished unless Arynn assassinates Elspeth. (all Jennifer’s chaaracters)
Two new authors take up the pen. Kelly Ann Farrelly ’92 introduces Lady Tamara, a
delightful and self-effacing maid, brown of hair and eyes, who comes to Elsinore to complete
her education. Lynn Guest ’89/90 brings in Relith/Evrhungrri, a black Pernese-style dragon,
and her rider Margvar Bloodaxe, causing quite a stir. Margvar gives her life history
revealingly. She is a “warrior-woman barbarian” raised by “a separatist band of Zen
Buddhist Ninja Nuns.” She tried to adopt their ways of peace, but, after some lapses, was
“kicked out by the order when she killed a gyrmanger which had eaten a novice”. The dragon
Relith was assigned to keep an eye on her.
K sees the dragon hurtling down on Elsinore, opts to let Rose prove herself, and tells
Rose to “subdue” Relith, who, luckily, is peaceful and motherly, and telepathically
communicates to the frightened Rose that she means no harm. Thus, after Rose recites a
supposed incantation which is actually a recipe for fried tomatoes, Relith alights before her
and bows, and is installed in the Ballroom by the irascible K. Xircon of Apollonia (Elizabeth
S-J) composes the Ballad of Rose the Valorious, and Margvar is restrained from terrorizing
the castle by Relith.
Enter, briefly, p’Elana-Thea-Ki-Lhra (Abigail Carlton ’92), a travelling woman of
stern disposition, who trusts the Lady for guidance and her own magic sensitivity.
Enter also Teryn Stellvan Andressalayn, Asgardian god of mathematics (Jennifer
Lin), who has left Asgard since the Norse have not yet discovered much in the way of math;
also Khasadi Kishofim the Demon of the Ballroom (Lynn Guest), “compared to whom
Hercules would seem like Peter Pan, Conan the Barbarian like Pee Wee Herman”, a blue
djinn with curly blond hair and horns who, together with Teryn, flirt with K and exchange
terrible mathematical puns. Khasadi, however, teleports to Iris’ bedchamber (illustration by
Julie), finds her amenable to his charms, and takes her back to his plane of existence for
mutual recreation. She is later returned to her chamber with a gift of a magical cup from
him. She heads off to ask the queen if the castle has a place for a water nymph such as
herself, and is granted a permanent position.
Meanwhile, K is given a royal taking-down by her offended housekeeper on the
general state of affairs in the castle. Elsewhere, p’Elana discovers a strange village that
radiates magic but seems quite deserted. Later, she finds a baby in a loft and a small black
furry creature which attacks her.
Lady K goes outside, obtains a black dress, and hops in puddles. Lord Spock
(Annemarie Shuetz) rides up, failing to recognize her, saying he returns to Elsinore to attend
a wound. K is astonished and angry; apparently she never liked him much. She tells him to
seek K of the castle, not bothering to introduce herself, and he continues up to the castle. K
decides in another fit of madness to become a sorceress (feeling she has more claim to the
title than Rose). Rose strikes up a conversation with Rhiannon and starts showing her the
“Time Warp” dance in the Ballroom. K storms in, alarming Rose, who flees with the cry
“What this place needs is some chocolate and macademia nuts and slim-hipped men… this
12
place is just too tense!”. K and Rhiannon rampage the castle turning all into cows, some
purple, and tipping them; Jenn manages to make a beautiful picture out of Arynn being
cowed. Iris is rescued from her transformation by her lover Khasadi. Unfortunately,
Khasadi’s djinn twin, Baal Hamalat, also teleports in and sets off to wreck maximum chaos.
Baal pretends to be K, has an audience with Spock, decides for no apparent reason that it’s
lovely weather for lizards (everyone seems to think Spock is a lizard), and turns both of them
female, with teddies. (The illustration is unforgettable.)
Demizdhor has another haunting page; a Gwyneth materializes blearily in the castle
(Thida Cornes, ’90). Somewhere outside on the road Espoira is picked up by a traveller who
thinks the harp will fetch a good price; elsewhere on another road, Tamara is offered a lift by
a well-meaning garlic porter with waggon, and opts instead to walk, but finds Elsinore not
long after. A small boy, named Christopher, a young strong-armed and compassionate man
(Henry, the polite one), and another young man, pale, green-eyed, dark-haired, catlike, and
not so polite (Shea), greet Tamara at the gates. (All Kelf, KellyFarrelly’s characters.) Shea
and Henry hate each other. Shea leaves in a carriage, picking up Spaird.
A grey-and-white Cat (Jenn Lin) enters the gates. Arynn, the so-called beggerqueen,
is recalled by a voice penned in red, and her prophetic powers are awakened. A little later,
Jenn teleports in Longshot, Douglas Ramsey, Rune, Yoda, Indiana Jones, Ricochet Rita, and
Luke Skywalker. The diviner, an evil character in green robes with a black phoenix emblem,
goes to collect Arynn, but is drained when Arynn claims her power of prophesy through
flame, and Arynn takes her place.
K, meanwhile, is zapped into a void by Rhiannon in a friendly accident. K proceeds
to have a weird out-of-body experience involving sudden enlightenment, pretty colors, and
daydreams of Spock turned into a snake and boiled by Cook. She contemplates how to solve
her puzzle and escape, remembering the book Discrete Variations on Magic, and a
conversation with Demizdhor about golems. She comes out changed, elfin, and fierce;
Rhiannon accompanies her downstairs.
Khasadi and Iris are interrupted fromed resumed relations by the intrusion of
Jennifern, the skateboarding windnymph Iris’ goddaughter, and Mushroom, a large and
sentient fungus, both written by Julie Miyashiro as charicatures of Jenn and herself. They
zoom off.
There is scattered talk of a party.
There is a strange trial written by Jenn, in which Loki, in the form of Teryn the
Asgardian god, tries Arynn the new diviner and her twin Acyrr, having summoned Yoda,
Luke, & etc to be the jury. Ascerby is made to be the judge. It turns out the twins Acyrr and
Arynn shared the gift of fire prophesy, but could both make mistakes while the power was
shared between them. Acyrr had caused Arynn to foresee Acyrr’s death by Arynn’s hand, so
that Arynn abandoned her power. Arynn is condemned. Loki causes the twins to fuse into a
new form, a Valkyrie named Alvath. Somehow the grey-and-white cat disturbs Loki/Teryn’s
plans.
The Great Hall is decked out by Kyrvastae (Jenn), a ghost, for a big party.
Enter Derayn, (Allison “Fish” Fisk), to the gates of Elsinore, an elven Lothlanir
healer, pursued by her betrothed husband Jeralte, who had refused to leave her with her
female lover. Derayn arrives on her loyal horse Orthax. A thief (Jenn) named Kyrie,
obviously an old acquainance of Derayn, has a warm reunion with the elf, and they go off to
rest. Derayn and Kyrie wander the castle, vaguely disconcerted by the lack of people. The
13
cat finds a gift box from Teryn/Loki and ponders a quest, waiting patiently. Derayn draws
down the moon to renew herself.
Somewhere else, Spaird, Shea, and Teryn have a fruitless interaction on Shea’s cart.
Finally, there are many preparations for the ball; Iris wears Kasadi out between trying on
gowns; K and Rhiannon pick out clothes, even Derayn finds time to spin a silver dress. Thus
ends the volume.
_______________
Volume II, Book II, March 1, 1989-November 8, 1989:
Map: 1st to use stencil developed by Elizabeth Scott-Janda, Jennifer Lin, Allison Fisk
(original stencil by Allison Fisk)
According to Fish & Jenn, the map was drawn with some old landmarks and some
new places added as points of reference, the latter including Xanthalie, Leaf Lake, Gameth,
the Swamps of Nûlg, the isle of Tir Chlis, the archepelago of Sithra, and Antareth. Amryth,
K’s old duchy, is still marked; enter Wydrale and the Kingdom of Dorvant, where Jennifer
Lin’s Lady Brendan was the reigning family’s princess and one-time heir; the battle-torn
Plains of Nur and Arghent appear to the north, whence Bekta of the horse-tribes (Allison
Fisk) and later Beatrice (Kirsten Anderson ’91); Dur-Ashûr,“ City of the Five Towers and the
Seat of Halaf”, deep in the heart of the northeast mountains of Mâra’zeth, has been added by
Elizabeth; Stanmere, small hold of Rhodri’s and his adopted sister Jinnet’s father, has been
placed southeast of Leaf Lake by Melissa Demian ’93; Tasynka, home of the Dark Mistress
who imprisoned Prince Fayr, was added by Jenn, as was Ellyrs, Isle of the Werewolf,
southernmost island of Sithra, and, finally, Melissa Demian and Ellis Avery Atwood added
an arrow pointing to Iowa in the northeast, explaining that Elsinore is an island off the coast
of Iowa, which is why it’s so hard to find on conventional maps!
Plot summary: Opens with Lady Brendan’s first appearence and Kyrie’s alarming
discovery that “a series of about seven volumes were missing” from the Royal Archives: in
reality, over the summer of ’89. Kyrie has a fight with Jennifern and threatens her karatedealing Mushroom, then goes to tell Derayn about the lost volumes. Derayn at first accuses
her thieving friend of stealing them, then apologizes; they go to inform the Queen, not
without some misgivings on the part of the fugitive elf who has thus far been afraid to reveal
her presence. Some pages later there is an anonymous portrait of Derayn.
Jenn’s new characters arrive in Elsinore. Lady Sirady, Duchess of Antareth, an
elegant and grasping woman, arrives in a carriage with her half-elf squire Gynseth. Carden, a
criminal of Wyrdale, watches the carraige and magically creates a spring of fresh water; his
author is is unknown. Meanwhile, Lady Brendan on her steed Myrdan arrives.
K leaves the ball now in progress, chuckling over some memory of Xircon’s
attentions to Rhiannon, and heads to her office to do work, decides instead to go to the library
to shelve books, and discovers the loss of the seven volumes.
Derayn, at the ball, finds Kyrie passing herself off as Countess of Antareth and totally
smashed. The healer tries to cure the thief of her worst symptoms, which have dredged up
painful memories. Kyrie reveals that her surname “Aleth” means “lost one”, that she only
knows her father was a noble who slept around, and that she hates having “nothing to fall
back on.”
14
K, as usual, is avoiding her paperwork, which she eventually shoves into a fire.
Dispatches have brought to K’s attention a fire and sickness to the north, probably from DurAshr, and of a Blue Lord going to fight it. Brendan, awaiting an audience with K, sees a
broken sword and a scroll borne by a page bearing her own seal; the ex-princess fears pursuit
by her family. Pursuit of a sort comes when Iriben (Jenn’s again), a lycanthropic knight who
has recently been rescued from a “Dark One” by Brendan’s father, finds her and offers to be a
guardian and friend, independantly of Wyrdale’s intrigues. He takes her to Lady K. K,
flinging various pieces of furniture, has summoned the steward Jardeth to send messages to
Rhiannon and the harpist Xircon, to have the remaining papers burned, and to send two
squire north to discover what is going on. Brendan, hearing the commotion, rushes in to
confront the perpetrator of destruction. K in turn rebukes her for a serving-wench while
Iriben observes in amusement. After resolving the misunderstanding, Brendan offers fealty
and asks for sanctuary and the opportunity to prove herself a knight. K states it is customary
for Elspeth herself to bestow knighthood after a period of training or a quest, and gleefully
delegates Brendan to take over the RKR’s more onerous duties; Lady K then goes off for a
ride on Francis. Brendan, dealing with the paperwork, worries that at Elsinore, women
oppress men as badly as the reverse in the kingdom she has renounced.
Meanwhile, several unconnected events take place: An ominous warning is
calligraphed bearing the name of Halaf, Prince of Marâ’zeth (Elizabeth); the two squires sent
north soon die messily by Halaf’s magic. Enter Morgaine and Gawaine(Amy Sunshine ’92?),
galloping towards Elsinore bearing a message for K from Avalon. A peddler who has
obtained Espoira (Michelle McCauley) arrives in Elsinore planning to sell the harp. Spaird
the ex-harp awakens in the Lady Atyra’s house of healing (Jenn’s). Dazed, he recalls fighting
with Shea and Teryn and being flung from their cart. The next morning, Morgaine trances to
locate K; has a vision of the squires’ messy deaths, and faints. Gawaine tries to revive her;
he also has a vision and realizes they must head south, away from Marâ’zeth. Later in the
volume, he risks using her magic herbs to bring her around, but fails the attempt.
In Elsinore’s stable, Derayn finds an odd silver band encircling her lamed horse
Orthax’s leg. She is startled by Kyrie’s sudden and mysterious appearence. Kyrie is cryptic
and sullen (“Laughter is for the light-hearted, sarcasm for the confused”) and the friends
decide to go to Derayn’s room to clear the air between them. K returns from her jaunt, is
accosted by numerous servants, is told that Xircon has been awaiting her for days in the
library, angrily stomps to her room to wash and change clothes, and finally goes to meet him.
Lady Tamara (Kelf) is slaving at her books in Elsinore and yearning for a distraction. And,
apart from all this, Sir Scorpión du Forét leaves a brief missive that he he has news to impart
in a future entry. K has one last, touching audience with Xircon, who had taken up the harp
and a new identity years ago; she apologizes for not saving their mutual home Amryth from
destruction, and for her sometimes callous treatment of him when he was her playmate Robin
in their youth. She tells him how she took up her office hoping to better channel her temper,
but has grown weary and feels guilt for the trouble she puts other to as well as for the loss of
the archives. She asks him if he will write ballads of her memories to partially recompense
the loss of those volumes. They leave arm in arm. The whole scene is encapsulated in four
panels illuminated in the high style of a midieval tetratych, with watercolor portraits of the
pair on the outer panels and their conversation in calligraphy on the inner two.
Iris (Julie), pictured lying languidly in her chamber, dresses herself after Khasadi
departs in exhaustion, and goes down to the courtyard where she hails Derayn and Kyrie.
Derayn and Kyrie initially feel hostility towards Iris; Derayn is also bothered by the nearness
15
of her pursuer Jeralte, color portrait courtesy of Fish. Kyrie learns that Iris also seeks
Jennifern, and they ride off together to seek the wayward windnymph. Derayn, abandoned,
rides out of Elsinore on Orthax, and so is gone by the time Jeralte arrives on his stallion
Elohim. Kyrie and Iris find Jennifern and Mushroom (illustration by Julie), and have a
furious mudfight which ends in laughter for everyone. They are joined later by the brownclad lady Laura and her horse Ardmore, wandering “through generic types of landforms, for
no apparent reason”. (Wendy Semsel ’93)
Meanwhile, enter Rhodri, son of Baron Owain of Stanmere, and Jinnet (Melissa
Ackroyd-Livingston, later Melissa Demian ’93), travelling from their home to Elsinore
seeking help for Jinnet’s mysterious malady. Ingrid, a Nordic fighter (Elisabeth Atwood,
later Ellis Avery ’93), overtakes them on her horse Mistrin. Jinnet backs away and Rhodri
explains that she often alarms horses. Rhodri invites Ingrid to join them, and the party
proceeds until Jinnet senses danger, and they are attacked by a strange clay dragon. Ingrid
finally slays dragon and rider, but Rhodri is badly injured, and Jinnet (who swoons in the
face of magic) in a stupor. The women recover, but Rhodri must be strapped to a travois
dragged by Mistrin. Derayn meets them and magically heals Rhodri, much to Jinnet’s
discomfort. Jeralte, back at the castle, begins searching for her (he cannot believe she healed
the magical injury he had given Orthax). Derayn must sleep after using her powers, and she
and Jinnet are taken by Rhodri and Ingrid back to Elsinore.
A letter dated 2 October 1989 begins the courtship of Lady Tamara by Sir Adrian. He
sends her love letters via a page, Earrike. The first is in Elizabeth’s hand, the next in Jenn’s;
both authors are in secret cahoots to give Kelly’s character the “excitement” she craved. But
Tamara mistrusts the anonymous letters, and it will be some time before K convinces her to
go to the garden, as invited, to meet the patient Adrian. Tamara’s first reply is a scornful
poem, footnoted as Raleigh’s “The Nymph Replies to the Nightingale”. Adrian’s response is
borne by a faerie within a teardrop within a perfect red rose within a crystal sphere; back and
forth go their messages for some time.
Sir Scorpión finds a girl, Jamie Jeeves, (Tammy Campbell) to help him write his
news. Jeralte, meanwhile, buys a hawk into which he transfers his spirit, leaving his body in
a grove to be guarded by his steed Elohim. Hunting in bird-form for Derayn, he finds her
with Jinnet, Rhodri, and Ingrid, and rakes poisoned talons across the swooning healer’s wrist.
(Fish illustrates). Ingrid, orded by Derayn not to kill the hawk, captures it; Jeralte knows it
will not be long before Derayn is bound to his will by the poison.
Another ominous poem describes Halaf’s plans to add Elsinore to his dark realm.
Spaird and Teryn, elsewhere, depart from the house of healing. Summoning up a “hearse on
the turf” for transportation, Teryn accidentally creates “a curse on the smurf”, thus is born the
wailing, cursed smurf (Jenn Lin.) A letter arrives for Kyrie, one of Jenn’s black and red
poem/pictures, telling her that Ehlanor, Seer of Kyrsath, is dying, and that her healer begs
Kyrie to return. Kyrie, Iris, Jennifern, and Mushroom are just returning to the castle, and Iris
relates how she volunteered to be the spirited wind-nymph’s godmother a few hunded years
ago. They encounter Gawaine and a weak but conscious Morgaine, who explain that they
bear news of a danger to Elsinore and must see K. Kyrie takes them to find a healer and the
tempermental RKR.
Holly Arnold ’89 writes a long passage introducing Sophias, a peasant mother of a
starving family in Siberia, who is involved in storming a Lord’s manor for food, wins the
battle but loses her husband, hears that an army is coming for revenge, and takes her two
youngest onboard a ship bound for Elsinore. Another character, Lyssandra of Amryth [the
16
Lady Not-Appearing-Elsewhere-in-This-Story], arrives in a puff of dark magic; author
unknown. The courtier Alalakh of Marâ’zeth finds the harp Espoira, marks her, and returns
her to Elsinore. Moredred of Camel’s Lot, an unknown Elsinorean alum, sends a message
via page to K, giving news of his kingdom and how, due to internal troubles, his realm has
vanished right off the continent and “relocated in myth and legend.” Teryn provides the
reluctant Spaird and himself with Asgardian horses, Seryt and Aerté.
Jinnet, Rhodri, the unconscious Derayn, Ingrid, and the trapped not-hawk Jeralte
arrive in Elsinore seeking a healer for Derayn. Jinnet runs off, afraid of scaring the horses in
the courtyard. Derayn has troubled nightmares of Kyrie, Jeralte whom she despises, and of
her lover the elf-woman Ëlathe, from whom she was torn when she fled Jeralte’s pursuit. A
beautiful ballad tells her story and sorrow. Kyrie, reading the parchment bearing Derayn’s
ballad and staying by Rayn’s side, worries for her friend and for the dark tidings she has
received from Kyrsath.
Henry goes to visit Brendan. Outside, a squirrel (Kelf) pursues a magic acorn through
the middle of Elsinore. A cat (Jenn) spies the squirrel and approaches seeking sport. The
magic puddle (Michelle McCauley) appears next to them. The puddle then disappears and
reappears in Elsinore’s courtyard, attempting to engulf Squirrel. Squirrel yanks away from
the puddle to land on Cat’s back. Thus begins the battle of Cat and Squirrel, to be continued
in the next volume with the epic style of the Iliad.
Enter Bekta, Fish’s pretty and noble-hearted fighter; he is young and brave and rides
to Elsinore, having lost his home in Arghent and the Plains of Nur to relentless raiders. He
is, unknowingly, cursed with the hatred of the Demoness Glasya. She sends Demon Hounds,
Wyrsa, (illustration here), which attack and slay his horse, then vanish before he can retaliate.
In Elsinore, a distress call comes from Prince Fayr D’Amour (Jenn): he was
ensorceled by a dark Mistress of Tasynka in a ball at Elsinore, and now lies trapped in her
lair, to be slain on the third moon. He begs all Elsinore to come to his rescue. This task will
be Brendan’s proving quest as Royal Knight-in-Training.
Back on the road, Bekta is awakened by Ehecatl, Fish’s all-time classic character, the
Aztec god of the Night Wind. The angular, dramatic black-and-white portrait says it all.
Ehecatl is amused but quite taken by the young warrior. He provides the dazed fighter, who
gives his name only as Wanderer, with a magical mount, a horse of the night wind, and they
speed for Elsinore. (Ehecatl is inspired by Tanith Lee’s Azrharnin the Flat Earth Series)
The last page is Spaird’s audience with K; having ridden to the castle, he tells of his
plight and that of his harper Espoira, and asks for advice. His entry is broken off in mid
sentence by the end of the volume [a confusing practice which it is best to avoid].
17
Volume II, Book III [The Quest For Prince Fayr] Nov. 8-Dec. 7, 1989
Map: The only additions are: The Forests of Klimia and their capital, the city of
Karmath, located west of Leaf Lake; home of Yardan and Khal (Angela Giddings ’’93) and
Merra and Kithyra (Ellen Brundige ’93). Walden Isle, a small dot off of the north coast
roughly equivalent to Montana, home to the monastery of Fish’s infamous Naturalistic
Monks, and Chatal Huyok, a landmark the aforesaid monks pass by during their travels.
This Volume marks the end of an era with the departure of the last original
Elsinorean, Lady Kathryn. Many frosh writers have arrived to add fresh blood: Melissa
Demian (Acroyd-Livingston, at the time of writing), Wendy Semsel, and Ellis Avery had
begun in the previous volume, and Heather Garrett, Angela Giddings, and Ellen Brundige
now take up the pen. Together with the next volume, this one contains very coherent
plotlines, mostly concerned with the Quest for Prince Fayr under the auspices of the RKR-intraining, Brendan.
Summary: The first entry is the conclusion of Spaird’s plea to K. The scene then
changes: Jeralte (Fish’s), trapped in the body of a hawk, is trying to escape Jinnet (Melissa
Demian), who is wandering the castle with Jeralte firmly in hand.
Outside, a questing party gathers in response to Lady Brendan’s summons, calling for
the rescue of Prince Fayr D’Amour from the Mistress of Tasynka. Teryn, Asgardian god of
Mathematics, rides on trusty Aerté, with his cursed smurf (Jenn Lin). Kyrie (pictured in one
of Jenn’s masterpieces) is invited by Brendan to join, but declines, saying she must attend to
family matters, and departs with her new companion Andoris for Karmath. In the woods
beyond, Kithyra, a tiny vagabond of mixed ancestry, discovers her lost sister Merra, who
suffers from amnesia. (Ellen, see picture) Both were orphaned ten years ago in Klimia when
its former tyrant’s soldiers destroyed their home. Kithyra seeks Elsinore in hopes of finding a
healer for her half-mad sister. At Elsinore’s gates, they meet Yardan (Angela Giddings ’93,
portrait by Ellen), the bitter Klimian sorceress who defeated the tyrant to regain her
birthright. She reveals nothing of herself: armed with magical sword and book, she is
temporarily immortal and bound to serve her goddess for ten years before taking her throne.
18
All three decide to join the quest. Enter Lyra,
a middle-aged, poor, and indomitable brown peasant
woman, and her three-year-old charge Matsy (their
portrait by Heather), a remarkable boy with uncanny
talents and a knack for “Seek’n’Find” Lyra, who like
Kyrie normally has little patience with the world of
nobility, knows something of Fayr from a visit to
Elsinore ten years ago and decides to come too.
Alalakh, Halaf’s minion written by Elizabeth, places
the harp Espoira in one of the Questors’ saddlebags
and departs.
Meanwhile, Michelle McCauley’s magical
puddle wanders the castle scooping up horseshoes and
the like and depositing elsewhere, finally teleporting
Rhodri himself (Melissa) into the library where Lady
Tamara (Kelf) ponders Adrian’s love letters. K leaves
the Library, having given Spaird what advice she can,
on Xircon’s arm, and they never appear again.
(Elizabeth
Scott-Jandaand
Michelle
McCauleygraduated in December). Tamara greets
Rhodri with bafflement and disappointment: taking
from vol 2
him to be Adrian, she had “expected someone coming
Book IX
in a puff of smoke, much more mysterious and drier”.
Rhodri corrects her misunderstanding and is relieved when Jinnet enters with an enraged
Jeralte, whose mind is gradually being taken over by the hawk’s (see Fish’ sketch of the hawk
with Jeralte’s face reflected in its eye). Outside, Cat and Squirrel (Jenn and Kelly) continue
to spar in their epic battle. In the garden, Sir Adrian awaits Tamara in a ring of faerie violets,
wanting to join his friend Brendan but immobilized by love. Ehecatl and Bekta, still calling
himself Wanderer since his home and people were destroyed in the Plains of Nur, (see Fish’s
Bekta portrait) arrive at Elsinore’s gate after the quest has departed.
Jennifer Lin, coordinating the quest, provides the characters with their first encounter:
the shadows of the forest lying across the trail turn into vipers by the Mistress of Tasynka’s
art (snake Celtic knotwork by Ellen, as are pictures of Merra and Kithyra dealing with snakes,
and horse eating snake). Merra, possessing an odd affinity for animals, pacifies the snakes
attacking her and her sister, adopts one as a pet, and is completely oblivious to the rest of the
party’s plight. Kithyra, wielding her father’s magical sword, exchanges her first words with
Brendan as they hack shoulder to shoulder in the fray. Yardan is poisoned, but uses her
magic to heal herself; having no love for the others, she mostly stands and watches in
amusement. Lyra finds the threat much less amusing and coaxes Matsy into staying still while
she pulls snakes from his leg; he, thinking it a game, eludes her and runs to help the others do
the same. Espoira, still in a saddlebag, plays a melody which, her author declares (contrary to
rule #3 ) “those who heard, snake, horse, or human, could not ignore”. Yardan, having a
flashback to the the music playing while the court was massacred at her 10th birthday,
screams (illustration). Iris, Jennifern, and Mushroom (Julie) and Laura (Wendy Semsel) have
their hands full dealing with shadow-vipers. Teryn watches (Jenn), but smurf is smitten by
sudden love for the heroic mushroom and bewails his fate. No one pays attention to Espoira.
Finally, snce the snakes prove hard to eliminate, and since Espoira is singing a song which
19
“cannot be ignored”, author Heather Garrett decides whimsically that the song’s effect is to
hynotize snakes and horses, causing the latter to devour all of the former, much to the party’s
bafflement and relief. The song stubbornly continues even after Kithyra threatens to break the
harp; lest the quest be brought to a standstill, Yardan casts a spell of selective deafness on the
party. Spaird, in Elsinore, hears the song, and follows on horseback.
At last the party can move on. A dragon-borne goblet and message from Prince Fayr
to the party says to fill the cup to reveal a picture the manner in which he was trapped, as
illustrated by Jenn. Lyra, tired and on foot, laments the party’s uncompanionable silence.
Kithyra, meanwhile, is lost in a flashback revealing her past for the first time, her parents’
murder when she was a child, her house razed, and Merra’s disappearence (see picture; Merra
hidden as tree). Yardan has flashbacks to the fatal birthday party, the teasing of her two
elder, spoiled sisters, her mother’s gift of the Tome, and the usurper’s soldiers breaking into
the Hall and murdering everyone. Lady Brendan sees Lyra lagging and offers her horse;
Teryn, however, summons his second magic horse and asks Seryt to bear the woman and
child. Lyra’s token flashback reveals the scene in which she joined the questors (which
Heather had not had a chance to write earlier).
In Elsinore, while Bekta dreams of flashbacks to his home and family being burned
and destroyed, Ehecatl prowls the castle. He meets Jinnet, Rhodri, and Tamara in the Library,
and relieves Jinnet of responsibility for the hawk (Jeralte) whom he hails as a fellow “god”.
Ehecatl playfully sends a gusty wind to the questors, who are disturbed by the strange
weather. Merra, at Kithyra’s side, immediately realizes it is “the wind’s master” causing the
gusts, although she seems unaware of ordinary events. Jinnet, back in the Library, is torn
within by the proximity of Ehecatl’s magic, and her mind urges her to “SHIFT”. She faints.
Rhodri (portrait by Fish) jumps to his sister’s defense, berating the god. Lady Tamara also
boldly confronts Ehecatl; he gravely states that he knows not how he has offended, and
departs. Elsewhere in the castle, a cryptic two-line entry by Walt Pohl ’89 states:“It
awakened. It knew nothing except this: it awakened.”
The questors continue on somewhat grimly; Brendan wonders about the whereabouts
of her only friend, Iriben, and surmises he has returned to Wyrdale to report her doings to her
royal family. Kithyra (unnecessarily) guards her new friend Yardan, sleeping in the saddle.
Camping for the night, the party has some odd visitors: Talley and Tolley, two androgenous
elven twins of whom the former differs from the latter only by two feet in height, appear on
either side of the camp and exclaim “What, you again?” The puddle appears and starts
rearranging tentpoles, horseshoes, and packs.
Enter the naturalistic monks (Fish), clad in lincoln green, chanting in Monty Python
style “E ei Thoreau domine, dona eis requiem” and thwacking their heads in time. Their gods
are Greenpeace and Thoreau. They find the horse Elohim and the body of Jeralte, whose
mind is now trapped in the hawk’s body. They immediately decide that Jeralte is a nature
saint, sleeping in a holy glade guarded by an equine spirit. Meanwhile, in Elsinore, Ehecatl
meets Bekta in the corridors, and, taken by the warrior, easily seduces him with a kiss and
takes him to bed. Several hours later, he asks his lover to join him on the Quest, but Bekta is
spent and Ehecatl, bidding him to follow swiftly, departs.
In the camp, the puddle first frightens Kithyra by teleporting her sister away (only
temporarily) and then Lyra, who barely dissuades Matsy from jumping into it (picture of pair
by Heather). Khal arrives in the camp; the young man, who had helped Yardan overthrow the
usurper in Klimia and was left in charge, tells Yardan that he left another regent and insists
on staying at Yardan’s side. Ehecatl also arrives, and Merra, recognizing what he is, greets
20
him (picture by Ellen & Fish), and asks if he has brought the ominous magical mist which is
rapidly descending on the campsite. Ehecatl calmly tells her to lie flat and summons a wind
to blow away the mist, doubtless one of Tasynka’s evil tools; Yardan casts a spell to keep the
party or horses from being blown away in the gale. Lyra is alarmed by the strangeness of
everything around her and tries to strike up a conversation with Teryn. Talley and Tolley
greet Brendan by name, baffling the knight. Ehecatl (the definitive portrait here by Fish) asks
Merra about herself, and they talk a bit; then Merra rejoins her sister and Khal is introduced
to everyone.
When Bekta awakens in Elsinore, he is dazed and appalled by the previous day and
night, both by his steed’s death and the breaking of his vow of chastity. He nevertheless buys
a mount (which he names Kafadje) to follow the god, and, encountering Derayn in the
Healers’ Quarters barely breathing, determines to take her on Orthax and perhaps get the
god’s help to heal her. Elsewhere, Beatrice (Kirsten Anderson ’91) is introduced, a young
woman fleeing the pillaging of the Plains of Nur. With her she carries a golden dagger. The
naturalistic monks, now, are constructing a bier to bear their new saint home. By the sea, the
monks watch the sun miraculously setting in the east until they realize, sheepishly, that they
have somehow ended up on the wrong coast; several throw themselves into the ocean in
honor of Saint Lemming; then they continue on their way, passing by a sign pointing to the
otherwise unknown Chatal Huyok. An entry involving theMistress (Ellen) and an unnamed
young Prince, standing on a battlemented fortress, warning that the gods’ meddling will not
go unnoticed. (At the time, this was written as a joke for Fish, although no one knew who
was writing the Mistress except Acting RKR Jenn Lin; later, due to subsequent plot
alterations on the Mistress by Heather, we realized the Mistress I wrote could not be the
same, and Fish had a field day inventing the story behind her).
In camp, Teryn talks gently with Lyra, who reveals she has travelled all the way from
Dorvant. Brendan is baffled and irritated by Talley and Tolley, which becomes their standard
mode of interaction. Ehecatl joins Lyra and Matsy, and, recognizing the god, greets Teryn
cordially. They talk while the other questors are confounded by the extended night caused by
Ehecatl’s magic. Ehecatl calls his night-horse and sets out; Yardan, impatient, follows suit.
Kithyra takes Khal on her horse and follows, but sends him on ahead and turns back to yell at
the puddle when she realizes it is wrecking havoc with tents and luggage in camp. Talley
and Tolly, who have been kibbitzing, quietly vanish on Lyra’s command. Yardan, so
impatient she spontaneously explodes, reforms a new body (“being immortal for ten years”)
when Khal worriedly comes running. He is confused and nauseated when he steps on a
finger. Yardan is suddenly attacked by one of the Mistress’s shadow-creatures and kills it,
then realizes she has committed murder and has an anguished conversation with her Goddess
during which she is somewhat reconciled to her fate. They remount Yardan’s horse and
continue, playing chess by facing each other and balancing the board on their legs. There are
portraits of Merra and a rather-too-old one of Khal (Angela didn’t tell me he was 18 when
she commissioned me to do it!). There is also a lovely entry by Yrti, who happens to have
dropped by (at the time, few knew what it was, and it was this entry, in part, which inspired
me to research old Elsinore). Meanwhile, there have been intermittant entries showing
Tamara fussing in the Library and Adrian langushing in the garden in a picturesque fashion
for so long that “his raven-dark hair is bedewed and covered with wet spider silk”; his
lengthy wait becomes a running joke.
The questors continue, getting to know each other better. Ehecatl and Lyra have the
first of Fish & Heather’s famous dialogues, in which Lyra and Ehecatl have a staring match,
21
Ehecatl blesses Matsy, and Lyra asks him point-blank if he loves Bekta and what he plans to
do for that mortal. Kithyra talks shyly to Brendan, asking what being a knight is like and
what Elsinore is all about; Brendan reveals some of her history for the first time and has a
thoughtful reply to both. They talk of knighthood, and drift back to the conversation between
Merra, Ehecatl, and Lyra. At this point, Bekta arrives with Derayn strapped to Orthax. Also,
the mysterious Mistress (Ellen) releases the trap she spoke of for Ehecatl, and a gigantic sunbird suddenly swoops down from the sky to engulf the god (pictures by Ellen, Fish). Several
jump to his aid, including Kithyra, whose magical sword is melted but heals itself, and
Yardan, who banishes the sun-bird by letting her Goddess possess her completely. When
Fish reads all this, she plays along happily, and writes that Ehecatl ivanishes with the bird
Jeralte, whom Ehecatl had been carrying in hawk-form, is retrieved by Merra, who then goes
to help Derayn just waking up. There are portraits of Derayn and a small, but unusually
accurate, picture of Kithyra. Bekta, riding with the others, is caught up in numb grief for the
sudden loss of his lover. Kithyra talks to Yardan and Khal about Klimia, for as a child
Kithyra had been tended by Khal’s fugitive band of rebels before starting on her search for
Merra.
The latest squirrel/cat update is that the squirrel, having fallen off the tom’s back, is
now desperately gripping the cat’s tail like a waterskier and being dragged through the dust.
In the library, Rhodri stays to peruse the books, while Jinnet goes to check on Ingrid and
Tamara, at last, goes to rondevous with Adrian.
Volume II, Book IV [The Quest For Prince Fayr Cont'd] Dec. 7, 1989-Jan 25, 1990
Royal Knight: Jennifer Lin, ’92/3
Frontispiece: Ellen Brundige, Green Dragon holding shield with Elsinore’s devices
Map additions: Golden Pond and The Eaves in the northwest corner of the continent,
located just south of Walden Isle the home of the Naturalistic Monks; Camarchen, city on sw
penninsula and home to Melissa Bettle’s (later Sabrah n’Hraven, ’91) characters; Tasyn’ka,
city of the second dark mistress (see below), located east of Gameth and symmetrical with
Tasynka.
Brief summary: Quest for Prince Fayr; Vampyre attack; Kyrie succeeds as Seeress;
Beatrice joins Quest; Aphrodisiac-in-the-Ale Inn Scene; Bekta tries to commit suicide &
found by Ehecatl on return; Prince Fayr found in Quest’s finale; enter the Fool who restores
Merra’s memory
Summary: The quest for Prince Fayr continues in the aftermath of the sun-bird’s
attack on Ehecatl. Matsy, Lyra, and a guilty Bekta meet and struggle to discuss Ehecatl’s
apparent demise and Bekta’s relationship to him. Yardan recovers from being possessed and
is told what happened by a dazed Khal. Derayn wakes up and takes charge of the hawk
which contains the remnants of her enemy Jeralte’s mind.
In Elsinore, the fighter Ingrid [Ellis Avery’s, portrait by Fish] recovers from her
wound and has a vision of her dead female lover Emer, one of whose green eyes she now
possesses. Her mismatched eyes set off her friend Jinnet’s phobia of magic, and the
frightened woman flees.
The Questing party next encounters the monsters Fish calls vampyres [pictured]
which seem more like undead, embryonic dragons. Bekta is badly wounded protecting Lyra
22
and Matsy (whom Lyra again barely pursuades not to jump in the puddle). Kithyra is crushed
and nearly sucked dry while defending Merra [picture by Ellen] and Derayn. Merra shifts
momentarily to Ehecatl’s form to save her sister. Yardan and a perpetually dazed Khal
(“Yardan, my sword broke...” “Look there are numerous unconscious bodies lying around,
use one of theirs...”) heal their own minor injuries, and Derayn tends the rest. As the party
seeks shelter, Talley and Tolley appear to greet Derayn and comment on the smell of the dead
monsters.
Meanwhile, in Elsinore, Lady Tamara finally meets her cobweb-draped suitor Sir
Adrian in the garden.
At the gates, Kyrie returns much changed, having laid to rest the
Seeress Ehlanor of Kyrsath from whom she had once fled. Andoris accompanies Kyrie the
new Seeress. Three panels of poem and picture by Jenn illustrate Kyrie’s return to Kyrsath,
Ehlanor’s ritual sucide and passing of her dagger of office, and Kyrie, transformed, watching
her predecessor’s pyre.
23
24
25
Throughout the rest of the volume, Kyrie converses in small snatches with Andoris,
King of Thieves, whom she detects spying on her in the ballroom. Beatrice [Kirsten
Anderson], following the Questors, reflects on her past: trained in the art of smithcraft, she
has fled the chaos of her homeland to continue her studies in Elsinore, in the hopes of
understanding the magical dagger (engraved with demons of night and day) her family’s chief
heirloom.
On the road, Kithyra comes to, weakly inquiring after the safety of the others, and is
tended by her unusually coherent sister in a touching scene [picture by Ellen]. Derayn and
Bekta also revive, the former remembering her lover Ëlathe (slain by Jeralte), the latter
pondering his vision of Ehecatl. Lady Brendan finds an Inn for her party, where Beatrice
joins them. Pestered by the puddle, Yardan trounces Kithyra in a card game, then goes out to
spar with Khal. As the party falls to talking, Lady Brendan fills Prince Fayr’s enchanted cup
and scries the scene of his enchantment by the Mistress of Tasynka; recognizing foul magic,
Brendan tosses away the cup’s contents but unwittingly spills some on the spigot of the
tavern’s main keg by the door.
The enchantment transforms the ale to an aphrodisiac. Merra begins fondling the
smooth, hard leg... of the table. Yardan takes Khal, wounded during their practice, upstairs to
heal him, but ends up seducing him (“Khal, I think you need to relax”). Even Lady Brendan
starts flirting with the rogues at the bar. And Bekta makes unwelcome advances on the
weakened Derayn. When he comes to his senses, he flees to his room where, overcome by
shame for breaking his vows of chivalry and chastity, he slits his wrists.
Thus Ehecatl, returning from his ordeal, finds his lover, and states with the arrogance
of a god “I will not have it so” [Fish’s most famous illustration here]. Lyra storms in, having
learning of Bekta’s assault on Derayn, but forgets her tirade as she scolds and aids the god’s
clumsy attempts to save Bekta’s life. Derayn, summoned by Matsy, comes in the nick of
time.
26
Meanwhile, Kithyra fixates on Lady Brendan, but is interrupted by Talley and Tolley.
They reveal to her that an aphrodisiac is at work but insist, “Shh! Don’t tell! You’ll spoil the
fun!”
Kithyra, prevented from warning anyone, starts throttling Tolley for in sheer
frustration but finds herself dangling above the floor. Kithyra realizes that yelling “put me
down you big oaf” isn’t bright and drops ungracefully into a heap. Brendan comes to her
rescue, challenging the elves to combat; they, amused at how easy it is to bait Brendan,
helpfully carry Kithyra off and put her to bed. Beatrice, baffled by the Elsinoreans’ strange
actions, flees to meditate in her room. Brendan, deducing the nature of everyone’s affliction
and realizing she herself must have poisoned the ale, goes out to the forest in despair to
punish herself before her Goddess; she is mocked by the hemlocks, servants of the mistress.
Meanwhile, the naturalistic monks continue their erratic journey to Walden with their
“saint”, and It [Walt Pohl] makes its semi-annual entry, speculating about the meaning of Its
existence. The smurf, in the Inn, continues to wail with love for Mushroom. Spaird,
wandering through, is dumped by the puddle onto Yardan and Khal’s bed. Merra goes
outside and, mezmerized by the mistress’ trees, shapeshifts to a hemlock. The Goddess of
Klimia, manifesting herself, grows angry at the hemlocks, and begins plotting revenge against
27
the Mistress who has turned “her” trees against her. And nearby, the hawk that was Jeralte is
stalked and nearly killed by a cat [also Fish].
Heather Garrett (’93/4) introduces and draws Tanka, the best fighter in her area
(somewhere near Gameth) who has grown tired of having to kill all the promising youngsters
who challenge her for her title, and is working herself to death by unceasing, grueling drills
and fasting. She is regarded by the local villagers as a healer and herbalist, which is as she
wants it.
Next morning, the Goddess of Klimia (“Squiffy,” as Talley and Tolley call her) tells
Kithyra the truth about the aphrodisiac and gets her to apologize to the elves. Yardan, pissy,
joins them. Kithyra, seeking Merra outside, is attacked by the forest and thinks the Mistress
has turned her sister into a tree. She barely has time to return and relate this before the inn is
set afire by the Mistress’ dragon [dispatched by authors anxious to finish the Quest before
everyone leaves during Finals week] When even the efforts of Brendan, Khal, Kithyra and
Yardan fail to get people moving, Yardan and Squiffy disintegrate the Inn, leaving everyone
sprawled on the grass. At last they can set off— Lyra, Ehecatl, and Bekta rather drained after
the night’s trials.
Approaching the gates of Tasynka, Brendan, in true knightly form, leads a reckless
charge with Kithyra, Talley and Tolley, Khal, Yardan, and Squiffy [temporarily written by
Ellen, since Angela had left for Winter Break already], Bekta, Ehecatl, and the rest each
following in their own idiom. They are greeted, not by the Mistress’ minions, but by an aged
man, who only snorts, “It’s about time.” Lyra breaks the awkward silence by hailing him as
Prince Fayr [Heather Garrett], whom, she explains, was imprisoned sixty years previously
by the mistress. The Mistress of Tasynka is dead; her minions merely operating out of habit;
the prince was simply summoning an escort to help him make the dangerous journey home!
Kithyra, wondering what will become of her sister as the Questors ride away from the
empty fortress, is met by a “knave” who teases her with silly rhymes, but leads her to a fullyrecovered Merra [pictured w/snake, the first of many nude shots Ellen was dared to draw].
28
29
The Fool [Ellen], as Merra Names him, joins the healed shapeshifter and annoys her
sister with his rhymes and allusions to various anachronisms [pictured, in full color, Juggling
his Seven Multicolered Balls, for which the naive author received much teasing]. Lyra joins
in the fun with playful alliteration. Ehecatl is dropped a message in a crystal ball from the
Mistress of Tasyn'ka, who claims to have “Tlalochi”, an item of some interest to the god.
[Fish and I realized that, if the Mistress of Tasynka were dead, someone had to have sent the
sun-bird, so Fish made up a different mistress to explain the discrepency!]. Beatrice is
baffled by a small, Gnarled Old Man [Heather] who appears at her elbow, goes “nudgenudge, yknow-what-I-mean?” and vanishes; this becomes a running joke at Beatrice’s
expense. Kithyra and Brendan chat.
In Gameth, meanwhile, Tanka [Heather] has a visit from a boy confused by puberty
and seeking her advice. She explains about it dispassionately, and reluctantly rebuffs his
experimental, but sincere, proposition. After his departure the lonely woman mulls over her
painful past, including her family’s callous acceptance of incest.
The Questing party is left by Yardan, who takes off on private business, and
followed by the druid Tully and his raven “Featherass” [Melissa Demian]. At the gates of
30
Elsinore, they meet Andoris and Kyrie, who calls Brendan to join her. Lady Brendan,
glancing up to see the Queen on her balcony nod assent, congratulates the Questors, kisses
Kithyra goodbye, and rides off with the Seeress; Teryn and Jenn Lin’s other characters join.
[a poem from and picture of Brendan wish Kithyra luck; in real life, the RKR Jennifer had to
take an unexpected leave of absence and passed her office to Ellen]. Kithyra, dismayed by
her idol’s departure, stoutly takes Brendan’s place in welcoming the prince to the castle
which she, in fact, has never set foot inside. Beatrice sees that Derayn is taken to a place of
rest and heads off to tend her horse, Gaius. The Fool shows Matsy parlor tricks. Brendan, as
a parting gift to her protegé, uses the magic in her uneasy possession to summon Kithyra a
faerie dragon named Wyrdan. (“Us short people stick together, yes?”) [After being
introduced by Jenn, he is turned over to Ellen]. Tully the crusty druid plods stoutly towards
Elsinore with his raven whose vocabulary consists of “Feh”.
Lyra and Ehecatl have an intense conversation (the so-called “Mindfuck Scene”). He
gifts her his magic pipes, which have the power to summon him; he calls her friend, blesses
Matsy, and takes his leave. Bekta goes with him. Yardan, in the woods, has a candlelit ritual
and speaks to the ghost of her sorceress mother, discussing the trouble she has dealing with
the sword and her mission.
Merra and the Fool go inside together, and the Fool reveals he has learned (among
other things) Latin during a visit to an obscure land known as Iowa. Merra senses and runs
to greet Jinnet, in whom she sees a kindred soul. But Jinnet is afraid of Merra’s magic, and
so the shapeshifter, telling Rhodri to look after his sister, retreats. They meet and exchange
flippancies with Khal, who wanders into Elsinore’s Library. He is just in time to get caught
in the crossfire [picture by Ellen] of a non-marital spat between the white mage [Amari] and
the dark mage [Korvax, both Angela’s], best friends and enemies, who start hurling spells
and demolish much of the Library’s Harlequin Romance shelf. A “small figure” also
materializes in the castle, a young thief-mage named Atri who is revealed to be Korvax’s
daughter and, much, much later, not Amari’s. Rhodri, not far away, sees the fire in the
wonderful library and rushes to save the books.
At the gates, Lyra takes her thoughtful leave of everyone and carries Matsy off “to
play”. Kithyra, trying to be polite, is lectured to by Prince Fayr, who explains he was
banished sixty-two years ago by the new queen his sister. Kithyra is troubled that Elspeth
could be so harsh (especially since, the Prince points out, Kithyra will be ordered to execute
him if “Elli” his sister has not lifted his sentence). The Prince goes off to see the Queen.
31
The Fool [portrait: “Arion, the
Fool”] runs into Atri [Angela], who picks
his pockets and converses readily. Merra,
meanwhile, runs back to the Library,
where Jinnet, fearing the magic but
protective of her brother, has just grabbed
Korvax’s arm. Amari has just passed out.
Atri, sensing the intruders, materializes in
the library with the help of her “Mother”
Amari’s dragons, and takes herself and her
family away before they wreck any further
havoc. Merra tends to Jinnet, who has
fallen unconscious; Rhodri shrewdly notes
that the strange woman knew his name.
(this is one of Merra’s two powers: the
ability to Know all living things’ inner
natures, names, and the like; and the
ability to shapeshift to any form she
Knew).
Ehecatl and Bekta, finally, have been preparing for a perilous journey; the knight has
been reading books on strategy, to better prepare himself for future battles. And Ingrid the
fighter [Ellis Avery] rides out grimly on her horse, disenheartened that everyone (so she
thinks) flees from the sight of her; she says she may return, but is never heard from again.
Volume II, Book VI January 27– February 14, 1990
[note: confused RKR accidentally skipped Book V— it’s not lost, just a numbering error!]
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: Julie Miyashiro ’92, Grapevines and bars of music, sword entwined
with double snakes
Map: Shin'tao the only addition by Fish, roughly two weeks’ ride west of Leaf Lake I
think
This volume catapults into the knighthood of Kithyra, the exploration of many
characters by what was becoming an established core of unusually prolific authors (Fish,
Angela, Ellen, Heather), plus the old writers (Kelf, Melissa Demian, Walt Pohl) and the
addition of Carla Levy ’93, Melissa Bettle (later Sabra n’Hraven) and Kim Wigmore ’90
(incidentally, Fearless Leader of the Doublestar Science FictionClub and co-founder of Bryn
Mawr’s other massive fantasy/sf co-writing endeavor, the Starbucket).
In brief: The returned Questing party settles into the castle; Kithyra settles into her
role as RKR; there is a banquet celebrating the quest; Ehecatl fights an unknown foe in a
labrynth; Matsy is almost carried off from Lyra, who is befriended the deerlike creature
Arrow; the Fool and Merra confront the Fool’s old master; the poker game in the garden;
32
Jinnet loses control and reverts to werewolf, as Rhodri, Merra, and Tully try to help her;
Serena, Brand, Sieren & Rahni, Saavedra & Ittraken introduced; Raikath comes from the Old
Folk of the Delvian Mtns seeking aid for her people.
Detailed summary:
The Fool, tossing paper airplanes and playing with a Rubik’s cube, wanders the hall
and converses with an ever-dazed Khal. Ehecatl wanders the castle more purposefully, his
steps taking him up to a tower where he confronts an ominous and out-of-place magical door
that burns his hand. Yardan, too, confronts magical portals in a vision as she sleeps, told by
her Goddess to choose a path. She chooses the one which, Squiffy says, is “the hardest but
most rewarding”. And It [Walt Pohl] seeks some way out of the darkness where It is.
Kithyra, urged by her new friend Wyrdan, goes to the Queen’s apartments to wait for
an audience, meets Jack the Queen’s stuffy but kindly old secretary, and is made Royal
Knight [bad picture by Ellen]. She arranges a banquet to be held that evening in celebration
of the Quest’s completion, and suspiciously assents to the suggestion of Squiffy [“Trust me,
I’m a goddess”] that a “rock group”, Dragonscales, be the night’s entertainment.
Jinnet, recovering in the Healers’ Quarters, frightens her brother Rhodri by her
growing alienness and looks to Merra for comfort. Unknown to them, the druid Tully with
his raven Alasdair (who greets Lyra and Matsy with a “Feh”), are headed for Elsinore to help
Jinnet. Merra offers cryptic words of advice which only confuse Jinnet and Rhodri. They are
distracted by the entrance of Beatrice, whose hand and leg have been badly burned by the
magical dagger she had carried and, when it seared her skin, dropped somewhere in the
castle. The healers tend the injured woman.
33
Fish introduces [and draws]
another character, Arrow, a small,
elf/deer equivalent of a centaur,
materializing in the unknown world
of Elsinore. He is scared of the
stone corridors but is helped by
Kithyra, whom he addresses as
“Mearas”, his “polite word for a
twoleg, but one who is not...
unAware.”
Kithyra dispatches
Wyrdan to lead the so-called ryll to
the woods outside where he may
hunt. Angela reintroduces the three
mages and Amari’s dragons, who
collectively run the rock band
Dragonscales. Besides the mages
Amari, Korvax, and Atri, the seven
dragons, each a different color, are
seldom all named, but notable are
the elegant Blackfire, blue Rainmist,
gentle Bright, and the drugged-out
green dragon Grass, each of whom
assumes their human form while in
the castle. Before the banquet, they
revert to dragonshape to relax and
fly outside.
34
Ehecatl, meanwhile, is stymied in the
treacherous labrynth which he has discovered
and is eventually blinded by a trap [picture of
him straining towards a window by Fish].
Elsewhere Derayn the Healer frets over
nightmares, her lost lover Ëlathe, and her
perpetual guilt over her inability to heal all
those who have died under her care. The
Hawk, housing few vestiges of her betrothed
enemy Jeralte’s mind, frets in its room,
rendered flightless by a scrape with a Cat.
Jeralte’s body, a continent away, is born into
the monastery of the Naturalistic Monks on
Walden Isle. Fish’s narratives of the monks’
haphazard and weary activities and the “St
Joyce version of the Chronicles of St. Jeralt”,
an overblown, exaggerated, and fictional
descrition of same, are juxtapoised throughout
the volume for comic effect. Fish also
introduces Raikath, a secretive, somber Stone
Elf of the Delvian mountains, whose people,
long accustomed to measuring lives in
geologic time, are dying of a strange illness.
She comes to Elsinore seeking help. [pictured
here and later, again Fish’s]
Lyra and Matsy, in the meadow, greet the newcomer Arrow as he heads for the
woods. New, too, are Saavedra and Ittraken, a human from Comarchen and the shadowy
creature known as a Wind-Dark [Melissa Bettle 93ish, the quintessential Erdbacksmokerite
and Tanith Lee connoisseur, who later changed her name to Sabrah n’Hraven]. Kithyra,
steeled from migraine by Atri’s herbs, welcomes everyone to the banquet, and is solicitious
of wounded Beatrice. Atri, who is now a teen instead of a child, confuses Khal (she, like her
father Korvax,is a time traveller). The Fool amuses everyone with original parlor tricks and a
ballad [transcribed, a filk of “They Hunted and they Found”] about the Quest— everyone
except Yardan, who has bad associations with music and feast.
Bekta and Derayn talk,
Derayn gently telling him that shay a' chern, [Mercedes Lackey’s term for] gay love, is not
shameful; Bekta trying to comfort her when she reveals her sorrow over her own lover. The
band Dragonscales, with special effects provided by the mages, begins their gig. Korvax,
bored, starts probing peoples’ minds; individual authors react in various ways. Beatrice gets
a headache, but Merra, to Rhodri, Jinnet, Kithyra and the Fool’s dismay, collapses. The Fool
guesses Korvax’s intrusion but dares not fight the powerful mage; Jinnet is not so restrained
and goes berserk, narrowly saved from being fried by Merra’s recovery and intervention.
Korvax is amused by the melodrama, but Jinnet is horrified, when she comes to her senses, to
realize that she, a lord’s daughter, had tried to rip out someone’s throat with her teeth. Merra,
after they escort Jinnet to her room, finally tells Rhodri that his sister is a werewolf.
35
Fish, rather against the rules, writes Elspeth arriving and seating Herself; the Queen’s
actions and wishes are usually only mentioned by the fictional Royal Knight. Raikath enters
and “the room quiets down”, [another stretching of the non-manipulation rule which annoyed
several authors at the time] as she delivers her plea for help to the Queen.
The banquet dies down, and the Royal Knight exits, with hiccups. The Fool teases
her but kindly, and reveals, through riddles, what Kithyra’s parents had hidden from her: she
is not human, but a quarter each of Faery, dryad, elf, and human. The news disturbs Kithyra,
who is uneasy about any sort of magic— her major weakness, apart from her temper. The
Fool then asks her to keep a secret: he is returning to his master from whom he had once fled,
but who gave him the knowledge of how to cure Merra when she was tree-bound in exchange
for the return of his errant apprentice. Kithyra has no time to muse before Korvax, in the first
of many confrontations with her, demands a fee for the night’s entertainment.
The night does not go peacefully; outside, Matsy is stolen from Lyra by a large dog;
inside, Khal ignorantly lights one of Yardan’s candles for illumination and accidentally opens
a portal to the spirit world. Kithyra is visited by her mother’s ghost, Khal by his brother
Nian’s; Derayn is confronted by the spirit of a mother whose child she failed to save;
Beatrice, retrieving her dagger, sees her sister mortally wounded from battle; finally, a
crackling, malevolent, previously imprisoned spirit first referred to as It slips through the
portal and incinerates Yardan. The sorceress reforms her body, then douses the candle. Lyra
manages to catch up and free Matsy, then flees into the forest where, collapsing, she is found
by Arrow. Kithyra, menaced by the sizzling It, has terrible nightmares of a blazing desert.
She awakens with a burned cheek and her magic sword a molten puddle. She goes to the
Library to escape her dreams and meets the strange, asexual Brand [Ellen], in reality the fire
elemental freed by Yardan’s candle who had once, as the sun-bird, engulfed Ehecatl. He
taunts her and leaves her pondering an old history of Elsinore. Then he mocks Bekta, passed
out in the Great Hall: “The Night makes a poor lover; come greet the Day!”. Finally Brand
takes the irrepressible Atri for a joyride, dumping her abruptly.
Beyond the gates, the fool has headed off, but Merra, realizing, pursues; eventually he
spies her. While they argue, the Fool’s master appears, a dying wizard who tries to sap his
apprentice’s mind so as to transfer his own into the elf’s youthful body. Merra, with her
shadow-snake’s help, defeats the mage, but not without the Fool getting caught in the
crossfire.
Yardan, summoned by Wyrdan, catches up to them, and, possessed by the
Goddess of Klimia, resurrects the Fool. Merra pledges herself to the Goddess.
Kithyra, meanwhile, confronts Prince Fayr. Having read the “Legend of Queen
Elspeth and Sir Scorpión” [above], she demands to know how Fayr can claim the Queen, an
only child, as his sister. Fayr, totally irascable, takes offense and finally points out that
Elspeth’s mother bore the same name, and it is that Elspeth to whom he is sibling. Kithyra
and the Prince leave the unsatisfactory conversation in tears. [In reality, the Royal Knight
had just started reading past volumes and discovered this discrepency, which gave Heather a
chance to explain it away and develop the Prince’s crustiness at the same time. Such is the
value of reading old Elsinore!] Yardan visits Kithyra in her office and commiserates with her
friend, then is called away on her own Royal business.
Tully, meanwhile, catches up with Rhodri and Merra, whom the curmudgeonly druid
calls “Phagos”. Merra is tired from her battle with the mage but vows to find Jinnet, who has
vanished. Tully, who knows everything that is going on, argues with an over-protective
Rhodri; Merra takes off ahead of them, shapeshifting to wolf-hound form to track her friend.
Tully, Rhodri, and the raven can only pursue.
36
In the woods, a hysterical and exhausted Lyra is tended by Arrow, who uses
phermones (without permission) to soothe Matsy. The ryll and human barely understand
each other; the ryll keeps asking about the wyldan, the entlike guardians he expects to be in
the forest, and Lyra is afraid more pursuit is coming to take Matsy from her. Arrow vows to
protect her. At this point, Jinnet, now a wolf, nervously stumbles towards them seeking help.
She is saved from being shot by Merra’s arrival. Lyra recognizes the shapeshifter, whom
Arrow greets in reverence.
Ehecatl returns and is found by a worried Bekta, who insists (to the god¸’s ire) on
joining him when Ehecatl vows “I am going to try again” [portrait by Fish]. Ehecatl’s foe,
later revealed as the demoness Glasya, spies on them. Kim Wigmore introduce Sieren, a
demonlord trying to be human, and his lieutenant Rahni/Viallae, an elf of “Timmain’s
blood”, that is, from Wendy Pini’s Elfquest universe. The female bard is dubious of her
boss’s recently revealed demon nature, and he, who regards her highly, is trying to regain her
trust. They join in a poker game begun by Kithyra and Jack in the garden, joined in by Atri,
the Fool, and Serena [Carla Levy, ’93]. (Atri starts picking pockets, and Rahni worries about
losing her precious gamedice, thinking, “I could've had a d8!’) Saavedra t’beth, meanwhile,
stops by, introduces herself as an ex-knight of Camarra, and is welcomed by Kithyra to the
castle. After settling in, the Wind-Dark goes exploring, and meets Raikath.
Serena, from the TV show Bewitched, is an irresponsible 60’s gal with a nosy aunt,
Endora. She first appeared somewhat before the poker game calling the Fool “Carrot Top”
and taking an instant liking to him. She has arrived from “dreary Iowa” to have a vacation;
decorating her guest quarters by whisking in objects from elsewhere (the phone, aunt Endora
warns, is not period) she sets off to the garden. [Fish draws portrait]. She has a terrible fight
with Atri, who gets along better with the demonlord, and she goes off in a huff.
Beatrice goes to Elsinore’s smithy and has an interview with the crusty mastersmith
Cedric [also Kirsten]. He had taught her father, Lord Mark, smithing, but was bitterly
disappointed when his pupil abandoned his studies. Cedric is brisk with her, but agrees to
teach her. Walt Pohl also introduces Gu∂run, an Icelandic farmer living with her grandfather
in Helskringla. Kelf updates us on the squirrel/cat battle: the squirrel escapes into the
garden, distracting Lady Tamara, who interrogates Adrian in a confused fashion. Heather
includes a long passage describing the swordswoman/hermit Tanka, who is killing herself
slowly through grueling workouts, starvation, and self-denial. And Fish concludes the
volume with a bedroom scene between Ehecatl and Bekta.
Volume II, Book VII February 14—February 27, 1990
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: Allison Elaine Fisk (Fish) ’92, left panel dragon, tower, sword, shield,
and silhouettes of Kithyra and Merra w/snake; right panel title and chalice w/pentacle in stem
Map: Del' Astrid (Stoneroot), home of the Delbaith, added in the Delvian Mountains
far south of Elsinore, Pirate Towns whence come their attackers added to the east along the
coast
In brief: Kithyra announces a new Quest to save the Delbaith; Ehecatl and Bekta
struggle to understand one another as demons and a fire elemental plot their doom; Beatrice
learns more of Cedric the smith, Sara his old sister, and their nephew Brian the healer; Merra
37
is captured by a lich and rescued by Korvax, and their strange liason commences; Lyra’s
cousin Tillek arrives; Serena & the Fool’s pie fight love affair
Detailed Summary: Various story-threads in and around Elsinore pick up where they
left off. Merra, in forest, tries to explain to Arrow and Lyra about Jinnet’s tranformation,
while comforting the werewolf. The Demoness Glasya spies on her foe Ehecatl and his
human lover; her obsession is remarked upon by fellow demon Grisnakh [also Fish’s]. The
Wind-Dark Ittraken befriends Raikath, who begins to suffer from the psychic pain of the
new-cut stones of the castle. Prince Fayr, breaking in on them, helps carry Raikath outside to
breathe. Derayn considers the hawk in which her ex-betrothed mind is imprisoned,
wondering about his fate; further entries from the Chronicles of St. Jeralt (and the real story)
shed light on the question. The poker game in the garden breaks up, and Serena is lectured
by her aunt Endora about picking fights with powerful mages like Atri.
Derayn makes plans to visit the battle-torn Plains of Nur, hoping to provide healer’s
aid. She consults first with Beatrice, interested also in the woman’s herbal abilities. The elf
later goes to Bekta, who provides her with a map. Bekta is still struggling to deal with his
inhuman lover, whose change to panther form has upset him (Bekta muses —
Ehecatl/Bekta/sex=Ehecatl/panther/sex!—) [Pictures of pair in bed and Ehecatl as panther by
Fish] Derayn arrives after the god stalks off, insulted, and the elfin woman gives Bekta
soothing advice.
In the forest, Korvax becomes interested in and attacks Merra, who flees and,
exhausted and mindnumbed, shapeshifts into a tree. [In reality, Ellen was trying to extricate
her character from the scene with Melissa Demian’s Jinnet, because Melissa said she’d
probably not write again. The mental and physical attack served to muddle Merra’s memory
enough to forget about her friend Jinnet]. Merra’s sister Kithyra attends to official business
with Jack as advisor, and is interrupted by the intrusion of Friedrich of Amryth, an
overenthusiastic youth determined to become K’s squire. Kithyra takes him in as her
“batman” [an old post mentioned by Jennifer Lin and Tammy].
Walt Pohl’s It makes its semiannual entry, and his characters Gu∂run and her
Grandfather labor at their farm. Cedric, Kirsten’s crotchety mastersmith, goes to his herbalist
wisewoman sister Sara to talk about Beatrice. Sara warns that he’s letting his dashed hopes
for Beatrice’s father sway his judgement about accepting the woman as a student. Merra
returns, dazed, to the Healer’s quarters, to find Korvax browbeating a healer into tending to
his poisoned daughter Atri; Merra comments on Korvax’s paternal concern (which Korvax
briskly denies) and learns more about the enigmatic mage. Derayn, summoned, heals Atri
and is taken by Merra to rest in the garden. Atri, recovering, is visited by her kender friend
Burfin Lightfinger (who is annoyed by the custom of locking doors) and goes off with him.
The Fool rescues shy Beatrice from an encounter with Serena, and engages her in a
comical pie-fight which ends up with them going to bed together. Nosy Aunt Endora cannot
resist interrupting, albeit briefly. Merra and Korvax, that night, have a different sort of
encounter [bad pictures by Ellen]; he trails the shapeshifter as she walks through the
meadows. Their conversation is memorable, prefaced by the lines “Ah, ’tis thee. This night
lacks proper moonlight; it makes me see evil in the shadows.” “You should trust your eyes.”
With such guarded exchanges they find themselves mutually intrigued by each other. Yet
another couple sleeps together but not in love: Sieren and his comrade Rahni, whom the
demonlord agonizes over. He is upset that their friendship foundered when he revealed his
38
true nature, especially since he had hoped to use the bard’s help to transform himself, and his
realm, into a more neutral, less demonic and evil mindset.
A message arrives from Lorca the First of the Delbaith, Raikath’s people, begging for
aid. He explains that the raiders to the east lay siege to his folk by means of a magical illness
as well as arms. Kithyra issues a summons to all Elsinore, assembling “all those of
adventuresome and noble hearts” in a Quest to go to the Delbaith’s aid. Rhodri and Tully are
occupied in aiding Jinnet, or at least in finding her; Alasdair the raven has been trailing
Merra, and so has been led astray. Tully eventually finds Jinnet still with Arrow, and Rhodri
must face and comfort his wolf-shaped sister. Lyra and Matsy have gone elsewhere; Lyra
sings a lullaby [composed and transcribed by Heather] to help the nervous child sleep.
Merra is again accosted by “the dark mage”, who kidnaps her; she manages briefly to
project an image of herself to Kithyra, who vows rescue. Korvax appears as Merra vanishes,
responding to Kithyra’s curses; he teases her about her tendency to misplace relatives, then
leaves her, scorching the ceiling with his usual column of fire. Jack, coming around the
corner, faints, and is revived by his Royal Knight. She tensely explains her sister’s plight,
and is reminded for the first time that her duties come before personal wishes— she must
dispatch another to save Merra. Jack leaves fretting about the “priceless Yorlith Hornchurch
ceiling.” Kithyra decides to send Arion the Fool for Merra; she herself will lead the Quest,
with Friedrich as squire and, much to his dismay, Jack as her deputy-in-charge during her
absence. [the trio’s portraits by Ellen] The Fool takes his cheerful farewell of Serena, miffing
Aunt Endora by referring to her as an old witch, and takes off on his own quest. Korvax is
seen asking Amari and getting Blackfire’s help to restrain the fool. Blackfire swoops down
on the elf, who tries to subdue him with an incantation (the same one Rose of Mundania
used, the tomato recipe). The Fool fails and is borne to the black dragon’s lair.
Questors begin gathering at the gates. Kithyra meets Tillek [Heather’s] there, a
longhaired, dark, short masked man in black who is Lyra’s cousin. Kithyra sends Wyrdan to
find Lyra, who soon shows up and is glad to see her cousin. The woman is still shaken and
exhausted from her race to save Matsy, but cannot bring herself to reveal who is pursuing her
or why. Kithyra, concerned, takes the woman and child to rooms near her own to rest,
leaving Tillek to guard them. Meanwhile, the Fool reaches Merra and confronts the dark
mage in his tower in the Swamps of Nûlg. Halfway through the encounter, it is revealed that
the mage is actually Spavvin, the Fool’s master-turned-lich, and Korvax has disguised
himself as the Fool to rescue Merra. The lich is vanquished. Merra returned to her sister, and
the Fool to Serena, much wearied from his efforts to amuse Blackfire.
39
Ehecatl continues to stalk the castle as a
panther, sulking and marring the furniture. A
masterbuilder and craftsman, Frazier[Mary
Rhoads ’93, head of Denbigh’s High Table and
“Big Sister” of the RKR], arrives, and is assigned
by Jack to repair recent damages to the castle and
refurbish Kithyra’s office to suit her tastes (and
height) during her absence. Ehecatl’s foe Glasya
[portrait by Fish, at left] continues plotting and
spying, bargaining with the demon prince
Grisnakh to help her snare the god. Ehecatl,
reading about goddess religion in Elsinore’s
library [switching to a darkskinned female form as
a disguise, portrait by Fish] must confront another
foe: Brand [bad picture by Ellen] appears to taunt
him and his mortal affectations. Ehecatl drives the
fire elemental off.
The demonlord Sieren,
interested in Ehecatl, spies on them; Rahni
mentions her disregard for gods and godlike
beings; Sieren reminds her that he, though a
demon, feels the same. He is trying to rekindle
their friendship.
Merra, meanwhile, has nightmares about
the lich, who destroyed her companion snake, and
Korvax. The dark mage appears and speaks to her
in his grim way, leaving her a black rose whose
thornprick causes her to collapse; the potion,
however, is later revealed to be a gentle sleeping
draught.
Kirsten’s characters go about their lives;
Beatrice visiting Cedric and learning of the patron
figures of Athene and Hephaestus in his forge,
Sara ritually tending her garden, and Brian, the
youthful healer who has tended Beatrice, visiting
his witchy old aunt Sara.
Jenn Lin sends an update on her characters: Lady Brendan and the Prince of Thieves,
Kyrie’s companion do not regard each other well; the trio are traveling together to the
Kingdom of Sedora. On the road Brendan inadvertantly rides into a magical cloud, emerging
as a man, Brandon. The Fool has a confrontation with Endora, who doesn’t approve of her
protegé and niece consorting with mortals or elves; Endora puts a clumsiness spell on him
with hilarious results.
Merra and Kithyra have a bittersweet conversation in which each realizes they no
longer fit into each other’s world: Merra’s shapeshifting abilities put her beyond mortal ken,
while Kithyra’s duties, quests, and the castle are peculiar to one whose awareness extends to
all living things in the world. That night, Merra’s steps are drawn to the sea-cliffs [portrait by
40
Ellen] where, meeting and speaking with Korvax again, the pair choose to consummate the
strange attraction they feel for each other. [“telephoto sex” picture by Ellen]
Bekta and Ehecatl, too, make up with one another, and go to face the portal and maze
which (unknown to them) Glasya sets before them. The demoness and her superior Grisnakh
plot against each other even as they join forces to defeat Ehecatl. Meanwhile another less
appropriate god, Jeralte, is worshipped (still comatose) at Walden Isle as St. Rowan with
prayer— “And the Lord saith unto us: Give thy contribution to Greenpeace now. Save the
seals, save the whales. Amen.”
Sieren receives word of stirrings in the demonrealms from his scruffy demon
underling, Vres, and makes certain that the “artifact” he plans to use to transform his realm
has not been lost.
Finally, Brand has a predictably fiery argument with his father, a sun of another world
who wants Ehecatl eradicated. Brand is interested only in doing as he pleases, and is not at
all pleased to learn that his playing with Ehecatl’s mortals is actually something his father
wants.
Volume II, Book VIII February 27—March 21, 1990
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: Ellen Brundige, Wydran flying over gates of Elsinore
Map: No new additions
In Brief: Korvax moves into lab; Quest leaves to save Delbaith;Ehecatl and Bekta
attacked by demons; Ehecatl nearly kills Derayn for not healing mortally wounded Bekta (a
demonic illusion, real Bekta has been captured by demon Glasya) but is stopped by Lyra;
Ehecatl goes insane; Lyra tells Kithyra and Tillek of her past and Matsy’s pursuit; Merra falls
ill from lich’s touch; Talley and Tolley play “This is a dragon” with Wyrdan, Sieren, and
Fool
Detailed Summary: Miscellaneous happenings before the quest gets underway—
Rahni, after Sieren accidentally calls her by her “soul name”, Viallae, elects to break with
tradition by letting anyone call her thus. Elsewhere, the witch Serena wheedles a magic
amulet from uncle Maurice which will help pursuade his wife to be more kindly disposed
towards Serena’s lover. Korvax demands and receives lab space (in the dungeons) from
Kithyra in payment for saving her sister. Korvax is interrupted by Prince Fayr, Sieren, and
Merra while trying to move in. Merra, distressed by Korvax’s biological experiments, asks
the Goddess of Klimia to help his “pets” or at least put them out of their misery. Squiffy, to
Korvax’s annoyance, complies, disintegrating the wretched things.
Kithyra, back at the gates, is charmed by Serena’s gentlemanly uncle Maurice [picture
by Carla], who has come to look after his niece. Kithyra then goes to Cedric the smith to
borrow a replacement sword and ask if her friend Beatrice will forge her a new one when the
journeywoman’s hand is healed. Shy Beatrice is in the garden having a picnic with the healer
Brian. (Kelly Farrelly’s Squirrel collapses unnoticed nearby). And Frazier the craftsman
makes arrangements to renovate the castle.
Raikath recovers in Elsinore’s garden under the Wind-Dark’s ministrations, and goes
flying and exploring the forest to relax herself [portrait, Fish]. She sings a lament in her own
tounge, transcribed and translated. Ittraken returns to her friend Saavedra, who is stymied by
Elsinore time. The pair go to join the Quest, slowly assembling at the gates. Wyrdan, who
has been frolicking in the woods, confusedly tells Arrow of the Quest, and talks the nervous
41
ryll into coming. The Fool, Yardan, Khal, Rahni, and Sieren also come, along with Kithyra’s
gung-ho squire Friedrich. The Quest takes off at long last.
Ehecatl and Bekta, on their own quest, are beset by demons. Bekta slays many before
he falls. Ehecatl finds his body and cannot believe it; he teleports Derayn the healer to
himself and is furious when she says it is too late. He sends her back with an ominous threat.
She, much shaken, takes comfort in healing the Hawk, who has suffered various mishaps in
her absence. Then she leaves for Nur, thinking of the dead Nurian warrior. Unknown to
both, the real Bekta is alive, a captive of Glasya.
A beautiful passage from Lynn Guest, written in the style of the Arabian Nights, tells
of her old character Khasadi Kishofim, now (apparently) in the guise of a young man who
helps his best friend, Hassam, elope with his paramour Yasmaya, while Kasadi takes the
wife’s place with her cruel husband. And Lynn’s other great characters, Margvar Bloodaxe
and her dragon Relith, return to the castle (unnerving Jack, who luckily recognizes them).
Relith tries to keep her rider from terrorizing the palace, and is delighted to meet Merra, after
narrowly saving her from Morgvar’s axe.
The Questors chat among each other cheerfully as they travel for the first uneventful
day until, as night draws over them, they catch up with Ehecatl. The god, in a frenzy of
anger and grief, has summoned Derayn again to him, and is trying to kill her when Lyra spies
them. Lyra wrestles with him, and finally blows his pipes to stop him. He flees, totally mad,
and Lyra helps Derayn back to camp. Kithyra sets Wyrdan as guard over the camp.
Enter some comic relief—In Walden, Elohim Jeralt’s stallion finally reaches his
master (bowling over the confused monks) and is commemorated as an angel in the King
Joyce version of the Chronicles of St. Jeralt. Meanwhile, Maurice goes to check on Serena,
who has returned exhausted to her room with a strange form of insomnia. They call Dr.
Bombay [another character Carla lifted from Bewitched] to cure her, but the cure gives her
hiccups.
Derayn and Lyra talk, and Lyra is shocked to learn of Bekta and Ehecatl’s fate.
Derayn is determined to heal the mad god. Lyra takes the elf to task for it— too many times
Derayn has healed without permission, and Lyra challenges her whether she would do it out
of love or merely her duty. Brand, hidden in the campfire, exults over Ehecatl’s losses.
Kithyra has strange visions during the night (“foreshadowing, your guide to quality
literature”) which all come true, but whose meaning may not be obvious: the dark-haired man
is Brandon; the middle-aged man with her eyes is her descendant, Briath, [from the shortlived internet-based Elsinore 3000, co-authored by Angela, Ellen, and a few of their friends
who attended other institutions], and the dying child is Friedrich. Close to dawn, she
awakens, dismisses the dream, and talks with Lyra, who at last is able to reveal her
predicament. Matsy is the magically talented child of her close friends Kayli and Tomi, the
former who died in childbirth and the latter at the hands of a cruel master. Now the Kingdom
of Dorvant wants to harness Matsy’s talent, and Lyra has been trying to protect him. Kithyra,
furious, starts to offer her own services, for “what is this blade at my side, if not to defend
those who need aid? What is the use of a knight, then? Do they merely exist for jousting
and duelling and slaughter— and war?” But Tillek points out that any such action, taken by
the Royal Knight, would be an act of war. Kithyra’s hands are tied, and Lyra must go, lest she
embroil Elsinore in a war that could only do more harm than good.
The grim tone is again lightened [hey, you’d think we actually planned this] by aunt
Endora’s return; under the spell of the amulet, she relents, cures the Fool of clumsiness, cures
Serena of the insomnia she’d placed on her niece and of hiccups, and treats the Fool to a nice
42
breakfast, leaving him to make up lost time with Serena. Talley and Tolley appear (insisting
it begins with a “K”), and start playing pass-the-object with a befuddled Wyrdan (“This is a
dragon.”/ “A what?” /“A dragon” /“A what?” /“A dragon. ”/“Oh, a dragon!”) and jump-rope
with the Fool’s silk juggling scarves, making pointedly obscene jokes about them to Sieren.
And Friedrich, full of energy, wakes up a grouchy Yardan, who intimidates him into hitting
on someone else (Rahni). Rahni plays him some peculiar “rock” music from a group called
“Queen”; her lute is named after one of their guitars.
Heather writes her semiannual grim entry on Tanka, who has been adopted by a cat
which she will not name, so that she will feel no grief when it dies. Korvax [portrait by
Ellen] is visited by the mages of his own world, who have elected him head of the council.
He sends them packing, then goes to see Merra, taken ill in the healer’s quarters. A
degenerative disease caused by the touch of the lich is turning her skin, even her eyes, gray
and dead, and no one can stop it. Korvax promises to help. Glasya, in the demon realm,
unites with her foe Grisnakh [portrait by Fish beliow] in a coup to place him on the high
throne, planning to do the same for herself. Bekta remains her captive.
Arrow, finally, goes hunting and brings down a deer, asking the Questors to help him
carry it back to camp. Yardan, Khal, Friedrich and Raikath follow him back to his kill, but
are set upon by strange creatures, half stag, half bird of prey. [the peryton, D&D monster
Ellen had always wanted an excuse to use, Angela wrote]. They are immune to non-magical
weapons, to Friedrich’s dismay. The volume ends in the midst of this fight.
Volume II, Book IX March 21-April 22, 1990
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
43
Frontispiece: Ellen Brundige, Wydran in castle window, cup and crown above,
yakfarter (herald’s trumpet) with banner below
Map: No new additions
Brief summary: Enter Gan of the Circle seeking to rescue Dale from Slavers; Merra
dying of disease caused by lich; Korvax cures her and then is stripped of powers by his
enemies; Derayn pursues mad Ehecatl to cure him before he destroys more villages; Bekta
tortured in demonrealm; Lady Tamara interrogates suitor Adrian; different demon Sieren and
sidekick Viallae successfully alter alignments of all demons in his realm to Good; Chronicles
of St. Geralt; Samantha of Bewitched falls in love with Derayn; Questors attacked by Bone
Dragon
Detailed Summary: Walt Pohl’s It continues to wonder about Its environment;
Gu∂run receives an unwelcome birthday present from her grandfather: “Questioner”, the axe
of their distant ancestor Queen Au∂r, who lost a war against the Wyverns and made a dying
oath that her descendants one day would avenge their family’s near-destruction. Gu∂run,
unlike her grandfather, doesn¸’t relish the responsibility. A short time but many pages later,
the volcano Helskringla, at the foot of which they live, erupts; Gu∂run’s grandfather is dead
when she frantically tries to wake him. Weeping, she gathers her few belongings in a sack
and flees.
The Questors set off again, after Yardan drives away the monsters and the hunting
party returns to camp. They meet Gan [Heather Garrett, ’93ˆ], a young man first seen
collapsed on the road who is marching cheerfully northward, despite terrible injuries. After
being told he is headed the opposite direction he had intended (he is half-blind from his
swollen eyes), he simply turns and starts walking south. Kithyra, Tillek, and Lyra convince
him to accept the party’s healing and help. The latter two eventually get enough sense out of
the fellow (who is conscious only through force of will) to learn his story. He and his lover
Dale are members of the Circle, an underground movement dedicated to rescuing slaves, who
were captured by displeased slavers. Gan, who escaped their tortures, is going back for his
companion. The Elsinoreans discuss how to free Dale without deviating from their mission,
and decide to dispatch a small rescue party. [Two pictures, a good one of Yardan and a lousy
of Kithyra, by Ellen].
In Elsinore, Beatrice keeps herself occupied while her burns heal, and her friend Brian
the apprentice returns to the castle to find Merra dying in the Healers’ Quarters. He manages
to halt the disease which is transforming her to an undead state, buying her time so he can
seek a cure from his aunt Sara. He takes Beatrice with him, partly to give her fresh air,
partly to introduce her to his aunt. Korvax, meanwhile, seeks other help, from a slightly
unwilling cleric, Lundir, of Korvax’s home world. The cleric casts a resurrection spell to
reverse the disease, and Sara’s draught restores Merra’s strength. Korvax’s kidnapping of
Lundir, however, has not gone unnoticed.
Meanwhile, Derayn the healer (having parted ways with the Questors) pursues the
insane Ehecatl, whom she hopes to cure. He has awakened with amnesia, and can only
deduce he has some power— he knows not what. Adopting the name of Huextli, he toys
with the mortals he meets, mocking a beggar but curing a bitter, dying young man who hails
him a god. He has a run-in with the fire elemental Brand [Ellen], who still trails the god
warily. Ehecatl has forgotten Bekta, whom he thought dead but who really suffers a worse
fate, at the hands of the demoness Glasya and her minion Mazlek. The latter tortures and
44
rapes poor Bekta. [giving rise to several utterly tasteless and obscure jokes about Bekta
having “a hankerin’ for some pine cones”.]
Korvax’s daughter Atri appears to Gan in the shape of a red bird, and offers aid. Her
father’s foes plot against him in his native land, taking his scorn of the council seat they’ve
offered him and his kidnapping of a high cleric as a sign that he plans to make himself even
greater. They fear that he wants to make himself a god, as in the legends [implied to be
legends of Raistlin, the anti-hero of the Dragonlance series whence came Angela’s
inspiration for Korvax; but her evil mage is very, very different, and the only specific details
she borrows are some magical words and the system of white, red, and black robes for
mages’ alignment]. Angela’s mages decide to combine forces to strip Korvax of his powers.
Korvax, ignorant of their suspicions, takes Merra to one of his favorite places, a plane of
darkness and flame. After he returns her to Elsinore and goes back to his lab to sleep, he
awakens to find himself powerless. Furious, he vows vengeance; as usual, he hides his plight
from Merra and pointedly ignores her concern.
In Elsinore’s garden, a nitpicking Lady Tamara [Kelf] interviews the lovelorn Sir
Adrian [written by Ellen during Jenn’s absence, who had to write him as a rather mysterious
character, to Tamara’s annoyance, until Jenn could tell Ellen more about him!] He eventually
lets on, in the next volume, that he knew of Tamara when he dwelt in her country, is very old,
and was Lady Brendan’s sword-trainer. Their discussion is punctuated by the Squirrel who
escaped the Cat. At last, the pair take a walk, and, [at Kelly’s request for a plot], fall through
a crack in time to Elsinore of many hundred years past.
The King Joyce version of the Chronicles of St. Geraldt continues its highly fictitious
account of Walden Isle’s monastery, celebrating their new saint with harvest festival; as
usual, the account is followed by an “actual” narrative of what really happened: the monks
pillaged the coast, had a party, got smashed on wine and pot.
In [Kim Wigmore’s] demon realm, the triad of Lord Sieren’s underlings Vres, Tahm,
and Jhyr try to fathom why their master is wasting time on the material plane with a mere
elf... unless it is to defeat his enemy Taraz. All is revealed later on in the volume. (after
ditching the questing party and Friedrich, who first crushes out on Viallae to Sieren’s
annoyance, then, when she asks him if he’s ever seen an elf naked, says, uncharacteristically,
“no, no elves. ”) Viallae finally realizes that, demon or no, Sieren is the same friend she
knew before she found out what he was. They eventually go off to find a highly magical
relic, the “Organ of Neward”, which, when played, can alter reality. Sieren trusts Viallae
with his ring of Wishes so that she can repair the damaged relic and learn the correct melody
which will change his alignment, and that of every demon in his realm, to something other
than evil.
Bekta continues to suffer mental and physical tortures for the rest of the volume
[picture by Fish of him chained to a wall]; finally, he awakens from one coma of pain to find
he has (apparently) broken his chains, and that no guards bar his escape. Another trick, or
truth? A confrontation between Glasya and her overlord Grisnakh suggests the latter may
have had some part in the matter in order to spoil Glasya’s plans. Glazya sends her lackey
Mazlek (also plotting against her) to drive Bekta into the labrynth that once entrapped his
lover. Meanwhile, Ehecatl/Huextli is magically bound by a crone who saw him heal the
youth; the god, not knowing his own powers, is helpless and afraid when the crone summons
her village to burn him as a “demon”. Derayn [Fish’s portrait] catches up with him just after
he realizes he is invulnerable to the fire and the binding— in wrath Ehecatl sets aflame the
village, villagers, even the youth he cured. The elfin healer tries to stop him, but is too late.
45
She touches him to begin healing, but only restores to him his name and vague recollections
of a Dark Mistress, a place called Elsinore, and someone with white hair before Ehecatl
breaks away and leaves her stunned.
On the Quest, Raikaith collapses [picture by Fish: "I am sorry, Ittraken"] to her friend
the Wind-Dark’s dismay; recovering, she reveals that Lorca, the leader of her people, is dying
of the wasting disease the Quest hopes to halt. They continue until nightfall, when, in camp,
Tillek asks Lyra for a story, and his cousin tells one he doesn’t want to hear: one about him,
his forced cynicism and self-isolation from the world through which he wanders. Tillek (and
Lyra) both withdraw in tears; later, they are reconciled. Tillek points out that, while he may
be afraid to care, Lyra cares to much about everyone but herself. Kithyra, whose wellmeaning concern only irritates people, has a partly-real nightmare in which she encounters
Brand, who has taken a dangerous liking to her. She awakens with a blistered hand and
mopes over Brendan’s absence until Raikaith comes to ask her how much of a delay Dale’s
rescue will mean for the Quest. Kithyra allays her concerns. During the next day’s journey
they encounter an undead bone dragon (activated when Friedrich picks up a tooth out of
curiosity) which gains strength by draining that of the living. Friedrich is drained; Kithyra
half-drained and flung thirty yards; Yardan and Raikaith dispatch the monster. (It is during
this battle that Sieren and Viallae actually leave on their quest: Sieren is almost killed by the
dragon, and decides, after his elf saves his life, that she trusts him enough to help him). The
party is aided by a newcomer, Corinna, an old friend of Merra’s who recognizes and heals
Kithyra using her magical singing. She joins the Quest.
Carla’s characters continue the soap opera, with the addition of Samantha, the original
star from Bewitched. Samantha has dumped her “dull” husband, and has fallen in love with
Fish’s character Derayn, upon whom she has been spying. Sam drops by to tell Serena, and
the Fool obligingly leaves them their privacy, teleporting to the Quest. Serena’s homophobia
leaves her sobbing at the news after her cousin departs. Maurice, meanwhile, is in trouble
with his wife, who obviously suspects he’s hexed her into being nice to the Fool.
The volume ends with Fish’s poetic summary of all her plots: the Mistress of
Tasynka, the pillaging of the Plains of Nur, the Delbaith, demon politics, and various
ominous (and never written) plots.
Volume 2, Book 10, April 22- September 12 1990: the Quest continues
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: Ellen Brundige. Jade & woad Celtic Knotwork framing title, stylized ∞
shaped dragon, two knights on horseback facing one another with lances, one bearing shield
with Elsinore’s 4 symbols on blue field
Map: Romain, Kingdom of Sedora, Caer Leyr added by Jenn Lin
Brief summary: Quest continues with Corinna joining them; Serena turned into fox by
angry aunt; The rescue of Dale from slavers and death of Atri; Korvax regains powers,
makes himself immortal, leaves Merra with Amari for safety, and wreaks vengeance;
Brandon & co return (Kithyra nearly killing Brandon) and chaos ensues; enter Samaietyn the
plush gargoyle
Detailed Summary: The Chronicles of St. Geraldt continue, with monks getting
smashed on pot. A definitive portrait of Atri by Ellen follows. The Quest continues after
scrape with the bone dragon, and Corinna, the new arrival, tells friend and ex-neighbor
Kithyra of her past [accurate portrait of both], and unctiously greets Yardan as her Queen
although the sorceress is travelling incognito [picture: “It pleases me to see that you are well,
46
my lady Queen”]. Corinna, ever courteous, does her best to get under Yardan’s skin, while
acting the solicitous and concerned friend towards Kithyra. Her wishes that Kithyra’s friend
Brendan be well are followed by a mailed entry from Jenn: Brandan’s arrival in certain parts
is noticed by one plotting Mistress and her gargoyle Samaietyn, who reports people are
hailing Brandan as the Asr Clhain, a legendary hero [in fact, Sir Adrian is really the Asr
Clhain.]
Serena rejoins the Fool and the Questing party distraught over her cousin’s
revelations; the Fool, hiding his own bisesexuality, tries to calm her. Samantha, meanwhile,
moons over her crush on Derayn. Derayn is still pursuing the half-mad Huextli/Ehecatl, who
is beginning to remember things. (He is unaware that his lover, Bekta, is even now lost in the
maze where he was once baffled). The healer’s horse trips over Samantha, who is sitting in
the woods, and the elf, stopping to heal her, finds out about Samantha and her love. Sam
helps Derayn by transporting her to Ehecatl, for which the discomfited healer is thankful.
The Fool, meanwhile, sends Serena [ picture by Ellen] after Endora to sort out her feelings
about her cousin Sam. Yardan, meanwhile, is upset to be told by Corinna that she’s pregnant;
Khal is more pleased. Yardan goes off to talk to her Goddess.
The rescue party splits off from the Quest. Gan, Corinna, and Friedrich go after Dale
while Lyra, Matsy, and Tillek create a diversion (read: have spontaneuos argument and
mudfight right in the middle of the slavers’ camp) while Atri, still in birdform, casts a spell to
make sure all the slavers are distracted. A second conflict, back in Elsinore, is taking place
simultaneously: Brand and Merra face off (after the fire spirit threatens to fry a powerless
Korvax) and have a fierce aerial battle over the castle [picture of Brand as Phoenix fighting
Merra in dragon-shape by Ellen]. Lyra and Tillek, in the spotlight, tussle with their battlecry
“Wah fey dah suh nee boh kuh” which, in Chinese means “It will not do not to beat you to
death”. All goes according to plan until Corinna, secretly in the slavers’ pay, covertly orders
her employers to shoot Atri. The girl takes a fatal hit and falls from the tree, reverting to
human form as she dies. Her distraction spell is broken, and Lyra, Tillek, Friedrich and
Corinna fight to cover Gan and Dale’s escape, each in their own way. Corinna, realizing her
employers are going to break their word, coolly slits the throats of Lyra and Tillek’s
unconscious victims. The rescue party make their escape, joined by Sieren and Viallae, who
have completed their own mission to wipe out the evil in Sieren and his demon hordes.
Talley and Tolley drop in, teleporting themselves and a pair of slavers to the main Questing
party. Kithyra decides to keep them as prisoners for the Delbaith to deal with.
Serena, meanwhile, finds Endora, but her aunt (who has figured out about the amulet)
is furious at being hexed and turns her niece into a fox. Serena flees back to the Fool, who
cannot restore her and calls Sam for help. Samantha promises to try to convince Endora to
relent; meanwhile, Sam asks the Fool to talk to Serena about homosexuality. The Fool
consents and turns himself into a fox to keep Serena company. Samantha finds her mother
and confesses to Endora about her love for a woman— Endora, pleased, reveals that all their
race turn gay after childbearing age [something the Bewitched writers would be startled to
learn!]. Sam can’t talk her into changing Serena back, however. Meanwhile, Endora turns
Maurice into an aardvark as punishment for giving Serena his amulet; Maurice, in Elsinore’s
library, converses with a nonplussed Jack (Kithyra’s stuffy old deputy). He then drops in on
Lady Kithyra, who is sympathetic to her friend’s plight.
Merra, recovering from her battle with Brand in the garden, is helped by the “creaky
Prince” [Fayr, by Heather Garrett]. The shapeshifter is devastated when she senses Atri’s
death– not to mention confused, since she is two month’s pregnant with Atri at the same
47
time. Atri’s ghost flits by to bid her mother farewell. Then, Merra senses that Korvax is also
in trouble; he’s drunk a potion that will either restore his magic and make him immortal, or
kill him. Merra rushes to the dungeon and tends him [picture] until he pulls through.
Recovered, he takes her to Amari and the dragons where she will be safe from his enemies;
Blackfire greets them courteously and the red dragon tries to talk Korvax into a “fling”.
Uninterested, he leaves to wreck vengeance on the mages who had stripped his powers.
Arriving at their council, he merely points a finger and destroys them in various icky ways
(“Die.”)
A short entry by Maggie, the five-year-old terror of past Elsinore, and Kathleen, the
Elsinorean calligrapher and illuminator of some of the lost volumes (now a college prof)
announce the welcome visit of alums on May Day. Sir Adrian (one entry by Jenn on her May
Day visit) and Lady Tamara have been transported back in time, and find themselves in a tiny
village whose matriarch, Elspeth [ all concocted by Ellen] hails Tamara as the Goddess and
Adrian as her servant. The villagers expect their Goddess, with servant’s help, to provide
their matriarch with an heir. They also mention a “sundering of the sky” and a “strange,
Shining One” falling from heaven, which Adrian resolves to learn more about.
Yardan has a talk with her Goddess about pregnancy, learning that, not being human,
it will only take 2 months. Sieren and Viallae go home to the Shadowrealm since their
author, Kim Wigmore, was graduating. Then the volume spans the summer, beginning where
it left off with a portrait of “Kithyra (and Wyrdan!)”. In September Jennifer Lin returns, and
brings Brandon, with Kyrie Aleth, prince Adain vai Iremberg, Sir Farlahad, Lady
Amalaine/Azora, and the winged Jair, plus one special gargoyle named Samaietyn. Brandon,
whom Amalaine calls the Asr Clhain, magically tries to reach his “loved one” Kithyra and is
stranded in the void. His companions follow. Fish draws a portrait of Ehecatl as Huextli,
still ignorant of himself but gaining inklings, and tortures his lover Bekta with false visions of
the god. And Ehecatl finds a shadowy figure of Bekta lying on the road as he was when the
god first met him; the figure vanishes before the god can remember why it is so terribly
familiar.
The rescue party rejoins the main Quest with Gan and Dale, who are pursuaded to rest
the night. Corinna silently fumes and plots against her former employers (whom, she reveals,
hired her to create the magical sickness now plaguing the Delbaith), planning to help her old
friend Kithyra. Kithyra dreams of Brendan. [Jenn played a nasty trick on Parade Night which
I shall not forgive her for; she said Brandon could find his way to Kit if Kit would only draw
her sword as a beacon to guide him]. Samaietyn appears and grabs the small knight, who
draws her sword. Brandon sees it, seeks it, and, “Solid ground formed under his feet; a sky
opened above. He fell forward… onto the Lady Knight’s swordpoint”. Brandon mutters
“Damn, it was a new tunic too” but is foiled from having the best exit line by Lady Amalaine,
who heals him— giving Kithyra a verbal battering— and tries to enchant him at the same
time. Amalaine and her gargoyle become unpleasant, and chaos breaks loose, as the gargoyle
patiently tries to tear Yardan in pieces (“This person has to come apart sometime. Practice!
Practice!”), Talley and Tolley scream “BOO!” in Amalaine’s ear, Amalaine summons sprites
to beat on them, Squiffy summons trees to beat on her, etc, etc. Kithyra, taking charge of
the situation, confronts everyone for being a public nuisance, as do Gan and Lyra (yes, this is
Bryn Mawr) and everyone eventually quiets down, after Yardan casts a flesh-to-plush spell
on the gargoyle.
Arion shows up with Endora as all this is dying down, and talks the witch (with the
help of the amulet) into restoring husband and neice to proper shape. He then gives her back
48
the amulet and curls up with Serena. Maurice, hovering over the sleeping Royal Knight,
gives the woman a fond blessing and departs. Samantha, meanwhile, continues to follow
Derayn on foot.
In the morning, everyone awakes feeling better; Tillek goes off with Gan and Dale to
join the Circle, leaving Lyra and Matsy. Amalaine, Brandan & co. join the Quest. Korvax
(elsewhere polishes off the last of the mages, including the head black mage Aledra, and the
head red mage, whom he sends to a demonic parody of the deans’ office. In the Plains of Nur,
we have a brief entry on Beatrice, who has journeyed to her father’s ruined hall, having
learned of her family’s (never revealed) history, and throws her father’s dagger down,
renouncing them and their lost riches. Merra, wandering in the woods beyond Amari’s caves,
meets a strange creature consisting only of arm, hand, and head (Digit, the Armee) who is
impressed by her “cultyvation and mannerisms”. And Tanka, the self-destructive
swordswoman, has an unwelcome guest at the door. The volume ends with Brandan
explaining a little of himself, of how he rescued Farlahad and became the Asr Clhain, and
how he has come to love Kithyra. Talley and Tolley appear, demanding to know if his
intentions towards this woman are honorable.
Volume III, Book I Sept 12- Oct 29 1990: The Quest continues
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: Allison Fisk (Fish), grey statues of warrior woman and robed woman with
book, green dragon at their feet
Map: No new additions.
In Brief: Questors ambushed by Raiders; Kithyra and Brandon in love; Merra at Amari’s attacked by
Sevin and meets granddaughter Delva; Sir Adrian and Tamara trapped in Elsinore’s past; the
scheming Corinna cures the Delbaith and summons allies the Raiders to attack
Detailed Summary: Kithyra and Brandon, professing their love, are regailed by the
“Mawwiage” speech from The Princess Bride, and demonstrate lack of humor. Farlahad
crushes out on a bemused Lyra. The party is ambushed by Raiders, who knock out Kithyra
and several others with sleeping darts (Brandon rescues the flopped Knight). Yardan rallies
the trees to turn on the concealed attackers. Kyrie, Amalaine, and Farlahad are whisked
away by a “darkness” (ie plot device, picture of Kyrie by Jenn). Corinna, losing her allies the
Raiders again, cheerfully sings a spell to drive out the drowsiness from the Questors. Matsy
awakens and cries at the singer’s proximity, calling her “Killer!” to everyone’s bafflement.
Yardan, annoyed at Corinna, comes within an inch of slicing off her head (no one seems to
notice) and Yardan’s unborn babies, the Twins, comment on this to each other. Adain
awakens and is frantic at his soulmate Kyrie’s disappearance. Kithyra, meanwhile, agonizes
over what to do with the prisoners taken in the brief battle, and finally resolves to tie each,
unarmed, with a bit of food and money and a note telling them that if they will go to Elsinore
and take up honest occupactions, they may live, but if they ever do wrong again, the Trees
will mete punishment.
Merra, meanwhile, is reading Korvax’s Diary, provided by Amari, when she is
interrupted by an unlikely assassin: Sevin [pictured with his grasshopper-headed green parrot,
his only friend] A mutant elven child of twelve with purple eyes, seven fingers, and a
vendetta against Korvax whom he both admires and hates for killing his mother the black
mage Aledra, the boy has been spying on Merra through the Armee, one of his genetic
experiments. [picture of Korvax dispatching his old mentor: “You erred.”] Sevin’s attack is
foiled by Delva, Atri’s daughter, who teleports, with the Draconian she’s been fighting, to
49
intercept the assassin. Sevin apologizes when he learns that he’s interfering in the laws of
time, and vows not to kill Merra until Atri is born. Merra, almost as strange as Sevin,
comforts the half-insane child. Delva is badly wounded from the Draconian, and Korvax
appears in time to heal her; Sevin, who greets him as “Shalafi” (a term from the Dragonlance
series) is told by a tight-lipped Korvax that Raistlin has been gone for forty years. [Sevin,
Korvax, Del picture] Sevin asks for the honor of becoming Korvax’s apprentice until he has
learned enough to kill him. Korvax, unimpressed, assents. Elegant Blackfire stops by to pay
his respects, and, pleased by the child’s courtesy and knowledge of dragon-speech, gifts the
boy a spellbook. Grass, too, stops by- the green and perpetually stoned dragon offers Merra
some pot “Hey Merra, wanna sniff?”, which probably explains why Atri came out a little odd.
At last, Merra and Korvax send everyone away, and the evil mage falls asleep in the arms of
the one person he trusts [picture of both, asleep, by Ellen].
As the Quest sets off again, Lyra reminds Kithyra that tying a whole army of Raiders
to trees may not be possible; Kithyra admits she is frightened of having to fight a war, and is
comforted little by the experienced words of Yardan. Yardan says her trees will help. And
finally, the Questors reach the mountains, and are greeted by Lorca, who is very ill. They
journey up to Stoneroot [all the Delbaith written by Fish] to make plans.
Various plots afoot elsewhere: Beatrice works in the smithy, pestered by the Gnarled
Old Man who keeps asking “You know what I mean? You know what I mean?” And Tanka
fails to rid herself of her guest, Gaea, who insists on being taught the sword, although Tanka
has become a recluse precisely so she won’t have to teach people to kill or be killed anymore.
At the gates of Elsinore, two newcomers arrive, a piggish armored knight and his female
much-enduring squire [Steve Anderson HC ’93], who are addressed by Jeeves (strangely
enough) in rhyming verse. And several other new characters are about to appear in the
Questors’ midst...
Derayn, still in pursuit of Ehecatl, is having problems tracking him. She catches up
with him, still grappling with his own flawed memory in the shade by a stream. And Bekta
still follows an enigmatic “Ehecatl” through the maze, eventually meeting a reddish-brown
twin of the god, whom “Ehecatl” greets as his brother, Tezcatlipoca. Derayn finally reaches
the dazed god [picture by Fish: “have you come to the stream as I...? ”] and offers healing.
Sir Adrian and Lady Tamara, trapped in the past, soon
unravel one mystery. The “Strange shining One”, the silver-robed
mage Ato, has fallen there from the distant future, where his battle
with his master (Sevin) had ripped time asunder in the vicinity of
the castle. [There had been jokes, for some time, that Elsinore time
did not run smoothly, and that in some places, especially the garden
where Adrian waited for Tamara, time practically stood still. Ellen
proposed to make this a law, the Elsinore Time Discontinuity,
caused by a mages’ battle that ruptured time such that it flowed in
uneven rates around Elsinore. It was useful for explaining why
some characters, less frequently written, would wind up having their
time out of synch with others]. Ato recognizes the Asr Clhain with
hate, having no love for the “noblest of knights” (Tamara fails to
notice the title) but, like his master, will not violate the laws of time
and kill the hero before it is the right time. He agrees to join Adrian
in seeking a means to return home.
50
In the mountains, Kithyra and Arrow apprehend a Raider spy, Ferret. [Ellen] As
Corinna did with the other prisoners, she works her magic ostensibly to loosen Ferret’s
tongue, but actually to block her memory of Corinna’s complicity. Ferret, who wants no part
of slavery or using Corinna’s magic to cause the plague, nearly breaks Corinna’s hold enough
to give the singer away— nearly. Lorca weakens visibly as they continue upward. Brandan
tries to speak a few private and loving words to the Knight, but is tongue-tied; his
conversation with the bitter Prince Adain (who at last, succinctly, reveals the who
Seeress/Prince of Thieves tradition which has been sundered by Kyrie’s disappearence) goes
little better. Corinna, still plotting, cautiously says she thinks she knows the malady and the
cure for the Delbaith (the former of which she caused). Lorca plans to gather all the Delbaith
at dawn in Stoneroot, their great, bowl-like natural amphitheater, to be cured; Corinna sends
word to the Raiders to attack then, when all will be most vulnerable. During the night,
Lorca’s teacher Makarirr dies.
Beatrice, annoyed by the Gnarled Old Man’s incessant haunting, uses a Nurian
drumming spell to wrench his mind, but is horrified when he vanishes in pain. Ashamed of
her abuse of magic, Beatrice asks Sara and Brian for advice, and they help her cast a spell to
alert the old man and find appropriate gifts so that she can apologize. After the ritual,
Beatrice feels better, and the next day, stern Cedric finally pronounces her ready to forge
Kithyra’s sword.
Dawn comes, as Kithyra has her usual anxiety nightmares [pictured asleep] and wakes
up Brandon [picture by Jenn]. Corinna, seeing their happiness, vows to make certain her
friends come to no harm— and thus decides to hold both for ransom. Then, as sweet as
ever, the singer awaits the Delbaith by their sacred well to perform the cure that will leave
them well but weak, thus defenseless and easily captured. Yardan finds out her trees are
missing and goes to look for them. Kithyra, stretching her legs, is watched by one of the new
characters, Cherissa [Amy Learmonth ’94], a green-eyed, fourteen-year-old girl blackmailed
by the Raiders into killing the Royal Knight. Kithyra bumps into Yarina [Stephanie Goellner
’93] a magical woman who arrives, exhanges a few words, and collapses. After putting
Yarina in a safe place, Kithyra finds herself attacked by an inept and apologetic Cherissa
(holding a broadsword by the hilt, picture by Ellen). The Royal Knight, bemused, manages to
disarm the girl before she can hurt herself; Cherissa faints, realizing in a vision that her father
has died for her failure. She is stowed with the growing pile of fainting people, and Kithyra
goes to deal with another dying person [Steve Anderson ’93] who is trying to warn Kithyra
about Corinna. (Lyra, whom Kithyra so often asks for advice and who thus sticks close by,
wonders why so many people are walking up to the Royal Knight and fainting).
Corinna begins her healing song, but falters when Ferret, regaining consciousness,
tries to throttle her. Cherissa, sensing Ferret’s rage and recognizing the disdainful Raider,
comes to Corinna’s aid and inadvertantly trips the woman, who falls and cracks her skull on
the stone basin, dying messily. Corinna thanks the horrified Cherissa sweetly. (And yet
another new character, Christie Stern ’93.5, appears, still nameless, nearby.) As the singer
finishes her song, she sends the Raiders the signal to attack, and one, having a vision of
Ferret’s death, vows to avenge his lover. Yardan and her trees are the first line of defense as
the Raiders, who have encircled Stoneroot, begin the attack. Kithyra is warned of the attack
just as it starts, and orders archers into position as the Raiders’ sleeping darts rain on the
camp. All brace for the battle as best they can during the tense moments that follow.
Meanwhile, Angela and the new frosh writers bring in new characters [the more the
merrier!]: Joan Milstead ’94.5, with a bunch of elven fighters to help the battle at Stoneroot
51
(the warriors Lady Eowyn and Lady Electra, the male archers Buckthorn and Whiteoak, and a
healer-child, Fawn); Carey Herz ’94 introduces Chaiais DuRee, a woman plagued by the
powerful and capricious Threar, who whisks her from world to world and keeps her
permanently sixteen. He specializes in binding people by treacherously-worded “contracts”
they later regret, especially interesting people; Chaiais, whose life is linked in some way to
the magic of the unicorn, caught his interest long ago; and Angela introduces Hawk, a
member of ranger-like foresters known as the Sentinals, each of whom bonds with a bird, and
who seek, after long exile, to be allowed to serve Elspeth and Elsinore. The Sentinal senses
Korvax, who has returned and given his new apprentice, with severe restrictions, the freedom
of his lab. Hawk, with her wing-friend Kirlawath, meets Chaiais, and the pair reach the
castle gates, where Jack greets them and offers lodging. Hawk asks for an audience with the
Queen, and Chaiais for legend lore, which the elderly Jack is able to provide somewhat. Of
the unicorn she seeks, he says the Unicorn of Elsinore, a companion and advisor to the Royal
Family for generations, vanished shortly before the disastrous sacking of the castle, and has
not been seen since.
Volume III, Book II Oct 29-Dec 23, 1990: The Quest’s Finale
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: [Ellen] Wyrdan looking up at rim of Cup of Elsinore which pours forth
rainbows and a landscape, two people climbing out.
Map: No new additions
In Brief: Raiders swallowed up by earth and Quest heads home; Corinna kidnaps
Kithyra; Korvax rescues; Questors ambushed by spider-people; Sentinels pardoned by Queen
Detailed Summary:
The volume begins as the defenders “weapons in hand, courage in heart, foot in
mouth and tongue in cheek, prepare to do battle” [Suddenly realizing no one wants their
characters in a soul-embittering, bloody, and probably fatal conflict, Heather said, “If this is
fantasy, why not exploit it?” ] And so, inexplicably [and magnificently written by Heather],
the earth opens up and engulfs the enemy. Joan Milstead’s elves [portraits by Joan, using
templates of Elfquest roleplaying game] ride up as to greet the baffled Elsinoreans.
Meanwhile, Yardan’s new charge, the gargoyle Samaietyn [Jenn], begs for breakfast, and,
forbidden from eating Matsy, settles on squirrel, in the famous “Greyfuzzythingflambé”
scene. The stranger Yarina magically departs, and the Fool tries to comfort a shellshocked
Cherissa with antics, revealing his real name (Arion).
Back at Elsinore, Mushroom [JulieAnn Miyashiro ’92] makes one last appearance
with her friend Jennifern. Hawk, having rested, descends to the Great Hall fo supper. In the
garden afterwards her nightly devotions are disturbed by Sevin and his grasshopper-bird.
Chaiais begins researching tales in the Library that may lead her to her Dreambeast [Carey
pencils fine portrait, with books in background written by or favorites of several current
Elsinore authors]. Two newcomers arrive at the gates, Esther and Louis, an ordinary but
stubborn peasant woman and her 5-year-old son [based on author Ellen’s own great-great
grandmother].
Thanked by the Delbaith, the Questors head for home [picture by Carey: “Wyrdan
waiting on Kithyra’s saddle— ‘Time to go, Ladyknightfriend!’”] Friedrich talks to Cherissa,
shellshocked from her father’s death, the Raiders’ disappearance, and her own awakening
Talents which are bombarding her with the thoughts of those around her. “Some evening” on
the journey, Corinna calls Kithyra (with Wyrdan) aside, and confesses how she betrayed
52
Kithyra’s father to the Klimian tyrant whom he and Yardan’s people fought. Corinna
paralyzes the angry knight with her magic song. Yardan is too far away to help, but
magically animates the black queen from the chess game she’d been playing to materialize at
Kithyra’s side. But Corinna teleports herself and her two captives away. Brandon, also too
late, pounds the rock where Corinna had stood with such blind fury that he shatters his hand,
and the shock triggers his transformation back to Brendan. The Black Queen remains
[Angela turns her over to Amy Learmonth] animated, and speaks dazedly to Cherissa as the
Questors realize what has happened. Corinna sends a ransom note, penned in Kithyra’s
blood, via Wyrdan, and Brendan leads the party onward with grim urgency. Corinna,
elsewhere, spends the time being “concerned” about Kithyra, whom she nevertheless keeps
paralyzed and shackled to a tree. When the Royal Knight desperately tries to reach Brandon
with her mind, Corinna stops her, solicitously offers advice “as a friend” about the evils of
love and the slim likelihood of a relationship with Brandon being good for the young knight,
and finally, with her deadly voice, robs Kithyra of every memory of Brandon.
More afoot elsewhere: Vale [Melissa/Sabrah n’hraven] is an aristocratic youth headed
towards Elsinore; he is a friend of Saavedra and a mage being interrogated by the Camarran
High Councillor in Camarchen. Merra, even as she senses her sister’s loss, is giving birth to
Atri. Chaiais, in the library, meets the Prince (“I am Fayr. I mean, my name is Fayr. I
MEAN, Fayr is my name. And it’s NOT MY FAULT.”) During their conversation, Chaiais
first explains how Threar/Lord Rowan has been “bouncing her from world to world” for his
own amusement, mocking her with her old name, Christine, and how her Dreambeast
sometimes aids her. She and Fayr play a game of chess, eventually interrupted by the pranks
of Louis, whose mother has been reading to him nearby.
The Questors are visited by Korvax, who demands the ransom note to help him
magically locate his daughter’s murderer. Kithyra, still manacled but not paralyzed
[picture:“Good morning, my dear,” by Ellen], is told about Atri’s blood-tie to herself in the
same breath that Corinna admits having killed her. Kithyra tries to garrot Corinna with her
own chains. The singer starts to shatter Kithyra bone by bone just as Korvax arrives in a
pillar of flame, igniting the tree. Destroying her vocal chords, the mage sends Corinna,
naked, into the rocky prison of the Raiders to deal with her as they please. Then Korvax
sends Kithyra, burning tree and all, back to Elsinore’s Great Hall, where a terrified Jack frees
her and carries her to the Healers’ Quarters [picture of him tucking her into bed]. Korvax
returns to Merra, resting after labor, and sings their baby lullabies. Merra is saddened but
must leave Atri in Amari’s care, else risk bending the timeline further.
Plots thicken: Serena returns to the Questors, upset, to tell the Fool that her Witches’
Council wants to “dissolve their relationship by dissolving him”. And Hawk waits for her
people, the Sentinels, to return to the forest of Erlynn: they have been pardoned by Queen
Elspeth [I think Angela said their crime was that their negligence as Sentinels was why
Elsinore was originally sacked by the Elpherans.] The herbalist Sara and her nephew Brian
tend Kithyra, now deafened and in pain from multiple fractures. Merra stays by her sister,
using telepathy to communicate. A Cat [Steve Anderson ’93] unfortunately decides to adopt
Kithra during this scene, jumping on her broken ribs before Merra can stop it. And there is a
portrait of Jack, based on Robin Wood’s picture of Petiron.
On the road, the Questors are ambushed by spider-like creatures teleported from
another world, who feed on mortals and use the magic they absorb against future prey
[diversion concocted by Ellen for those who wanted a fight scene]. Yardan, restoring
Samaietyn back to stone for good behavior, tries to press on; forced to fight, the pregnant
53
queen yells “I don’t have time for this!” [amusing picture]; her unborn twins secretly assist
her with magic. Khal, the Fool (“Will that be for here or to go, Ma’am?”), and Cherissa are
ensnared by webs. A stranger, also webbed, teleports in during the battle and comes to the
party’s aid. [portrait of him (Ælthon), Serena in Joan D’Arc garb, and dying Fool by Ellen].
Friedrich is bitten but recovers, as if magically, and tells a worried Cherissa “Thanks for
marrying... I mean, warning me,” to her confusion. [actually, he said this only because the
author was listening to a conversation in the Smoker while writing, but decided to leave the
surreality in and devise a plot to explain Friedrich’s occasionally bizarre comments.] The
stranger heals the wounded and introduces himself as Sir Ælthon Phileisone, a Drow or dark
elf, implicitly daring Brendan to display the racial prejudice so common in fantasy universes.
Scattered scenes:Korvax faces off with Hawk, or Vetris, as she was called while his
sister... she left, their argument reveals, when Korvax destroyed their father in retaliation for
his killing of their mother. After Vetris storms out, Korvax checks on his arrogant
apprentice, Sevin, and sends him hunting spell components. A much older Sevin appears
moments later with the components— the boy, knowing he lacked the skills to gather them,
momorized the list until he was powerful enoughto collect them and teleport back in time.
Meanwhile a series of illuminated panels by Jenn chronicle the Seeress’ Kyrie psychic battle
to pass through the Void into which she has fallen. In another world, Yarina reappears as the
sorceress-in-training Alosha, chained by a mysterious and powerful THEM for testing a
teleportation spell. She and the boy Misha are being trained by THEY who plan to use their
talents. Yarina and Misha teleport to Elsinore, looking for a place to hide. In the forest, a
Star (a band from a certain organization) consisting of Arielle the second-rate-sorceress
[Carey, Lorelie the swordswoman [Joan], Orn the healer [Robin Meyer ’94] and Marian the
ranger [Susan Keener ’94] realize they have been transported far from home.
Back with the Quest, all of Lady Electra’s companions depart, leaving her to bear
their message to Queen Elspeth. And, having observed the Questing Party’s battle with
indifference, the Black Queen notes Cherissa’s Talent and plots to use her to gain power.
In the castle Brian heals Kithyra under Sara’s supervision. Kithyra, still weak, sleeps
fitfully; she is disconcerted to find Korvax keeping watch over her when she briefly awakens.
Elsewhere, Chaiais takes her leave of the Prince and gets lost trying to find her room.
Yarina, in her quarters, is nearly traced by THEM and realizes Misha himself is spying for
them. She traps her friend as a rainbow in a glass sphere. Outside, Merra rests in the forest
and communes with Kirlawath the Hawk. And at dawn, Kithyra awakens speaking
Brandon’s name, but no longer remembers whom it belongs to.
Volume III, Book III December 3, 1990-January 29, 1991
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: [Ellen] Celtic knotwork border. Dragon, rampant, and standing dark woman
holding cup; coat of arms between them is encircled by more knotwork and depicts threetowered castle on blue and green fields, moon, argent, to left and sun, or, on right.
Map: No additions.
In Brief: Kithyra recovers, Quest (led by Brendan) heads back, newcomers settle in castle,
Lorelie of the Star sisters collases, Brecca called in, Food Fight in Great Hall, The Body
Swap.
Detailed Summary: Jack frets about Kithyra, muses on the many new visitors to the
castle. Kithyra, awake, tells him of Corinna’s betrayal. Jack takes her to her office,
pleasantly surprising the diminuative RKR with Frazier’s thoughtful remodelling, complete
54
with lowered doorknobs and a birdbath for Wyrdan. Kithyra feeds the Cat and heads for
breakfast.
The Star Sisters, learning from Marian’s intuition that they should seek something
called “Elsinore”, head for the nearby castle to find “whoever” Elsinore is. Marian has a
horrific vision of blood, and and trances to consult her departed lover, Highlander. Rejoining
her friends, they set off for the castle.
Chaiais, refreshed with a bath and comfy Elsinore garb, stops to play a harp she finds
but is interrupted by Threar. Merra, just returning from the woods, finds her after he has left
her in tears, and invites her to share breakfast. Before they reach the Great Hall, however,
Sevin makes an unsuccessful attempt on Merra’s life; his pet, recognizing Merra as kindred
(for she is kin to all life), hurls itself in the path of his lightning spell. Sevin is upset at his
pet’s death; Merra comforts him but sends him away before Korvax can exact punishment.
Yarina, hounded by the voices of THEM in her head, flees, accidentally breaks the
ball in which she placed her friend Misha, and faints. Later in the volume, she is awakened
by a new friend, Alexander, an entity trapped in the body of a rat for centuries. Misha, still a
rainbow, reappears unhurt, and Yarina restores him. . Elsewhere, in the Shadowrealm [Kim
stopped by for Christmas High Table], Viallae finds out how boring it is to be a majordomo
for a reformed demon.
The Questors continue north. The Black Queen attempts to hypnotize Sir Ælthon,
annoyed that she is not being given the fealty that is her due. The drow, unfazed, rebukes her
for not taking a hand in the battle against the spiders; Yardan also gives her creation a
dressing-down. Cherissa struggles to come to terms with her loss. Lady Brendan and the
winged woman, Jair [also Jenn’s] speak briefly of their affairs, discussing how Brendan’s
change of sex and the loss of the others will affect the outcome of their mission to Jair’s
“militant shefolk” who evidently protect their male harems diligently. (Jenn never has a
chance to write of the mission). Brendan muses on the past, of a Lady Syrione locked forever
in a cave— something to do with her love for the Asr Clhain/Brandon/Adrian— and of him,
the true Asr Clhain, in Brendan’s mind: her mentor Adrian. Lyra is overcome by feelings of
isolation from the company of questing knights and nobles. Brendan, meanwhile, tries to
force information from Samaietyn about Lady Amalaine’s location, but he casts a temporary
spell on her, and time stops. Brandon, reflected in her horse’s bit, mocks her.
Korvax is troubled by nightmare flashbacks to his mother’s death, and the vengeance
he took upon his father out of self-defense. The next morning he nearly kills himself in a lab
accident. Merra and Hawk rush to the dungeon to find out what he has done; Korvax’s wards
bar Hawk until she commandeers her brother’s mind so as to fool the wards and his “demon
in the corner”, Krytharian. Hawk, exhausted, collapses, leaving Merra to carry an
unconscious Korvax to the healers’ quarters. Korvax comes to briefly to demand paper and
pen, weakly scribes “nightshade, bad, do not use,” and collapses again. His demon, chafing
against captivity, tests the weakened wards and expires messily, taking them out with it.
Chaiais, Louis, Kithyra and Esther meet at the breakfast table, the latter inquiring after
a rumor of Lady Brendan’s death. Chaiais assures Kithyra that Brendan is alive, then
apologizes for her display of Foresight: she has not entirely broken her Curse to “speak truth
and not be believed, see the future and not be able to change it; love and not be loved.” They
are joined by the Star, just arrived, but Lorelie promptly collapses and is rushed to the
Healers’ Quarters. Yarina, Misha, and Alexander show up for breakfast.
Fish update: Derayn, meeting Ehecatl at the stream, at last heals him. The god leaves
her a black lily, token of thanks, and sets off to right the wrongs done during his madness.
55
Lorelie, meanwhile, is tended by Orn and a supposedly walk-on character, an old
Elsinorean healerwoman [Carey Herz] whose magic supplements Orn’s physician skills.
They discover Lorelie, a “Shee” [Daone Sidhe], has a nasty version of a common “bonecrush
fever” that is ravaging her nervous system. With no cure, and little time before Lorelie is
beyond help, the old healer places her under a magical stasis field, so that Orn has time to do
research. Meanwhile, Orn’s companions wander (having been shooed away), and Arielle
stumbles into Korvax’s lab where Hawk is cooking herself breakfast.
Enter mayhem: The Food Fight begins in the Great Hall, and the Infamous Body
Swap commences at “Burgher King”, where the Questors stay the night. [Ah, finals week
stress!] Louis lobs a napkin at Chaiais (she retaliates), and Talley and Tolley appear flinging
ale. Kithyra starts shoving sausages up Talley’s nose; soon almost everyone joins in. Jack
and the old healerwoman get caught in the crossfire. [Carey discovers the danger of naming
walk-ons: she calls the woman Brecca in this scene, and Masterhealer “That’s old bitch, to
you!” Brecca becomes her most famous character.] The battle ends with Louis, Kithyra, and
Chaiais playing parachute with the tablecloth. Kithyra requisitions a hapless apprentice,
Kirsha [Ellen] to magically zap the mess away. Kithyra then goes for a stroll in the garden
with a newly-restored Maurice, stopping on the way to check on Korvax and make him tea.
Chaiais returns to her room to find Threar, who offers her healer’s tools and a harp for the
price of a song. Chafing at the manipulation, she plays a biting autobiographical ballad, and
wins the gifts. Sevin drops in on Korvax; they have a brief duel which, as a result of Sevin’s
warped magic, creates a “Diet Caffeine Free Cherry Korvax” vending machine in the mage’s
lab [a smoker joke]. Korvax finds Arielle poking around in his equipment and sends her
away rudely.
Tanka, meanwhile, has reluctantly taken in Gaea, and one cat. And Yarina returns to
her world to destroy THEY who have enslaved her and Misha in exchange for teaching them.
In the Inn, the night starts peacefully enough. Two newcomers [Carla Levy],
Elizabeth the barmaid and her younger witchy sister Mandala, discuss Mandy’s recent lack of
good women; Mandy’s luck turns when Serena walks in and falls madly in love. The two
take off together, leaving a lonely but not altogether surprised Fool. Brendan has a
conversation with her male reflection, who taunts her every word with a surreal litany: “A
Knight Errant/A Knight of Errors/A Night of Errors/A Night of Terrors/A Reign of Terror/A
Rain of Terriers/It’s raining cats and dogs, folks!” Cherissa talks to the Black Queen (still
irritated that everyone isn’t obeying her) and names her Thea. Cherissa then goes to her room,
where her mother, “a traveller between the living and the dead”, confronts her, revealing that
Chrissa has inherited some gifts from her mother, but not the Curse which forced her mother
to slay her baby sister. Sir Ælthon, feeling like an outsider, goes out to make his devotions
to his god, Corellon. He is startled to receive an answer... not noticing an hourglass has
appeared on his star-embroidered magic cloak.
The Goddess of Klimia, casts a spell with the ominous words “oh, this will be fun,”
and switches almost everyone into other’s bodies. The Black Queen finds herself in Yardan’s
, and goes into labor. Chaiais is astonished to materialize in Sevin’s body (she doesn’t even
know him) in mid-conversation with Marian. Marian beats a hasty retreat when Wydran, in
Chaiais’ body, accuses her of taking his wings. Sevin is furious to find himself in Wyrdan’s
body, especially since one of the unborn twins, now in Thea’s body, pronounces him “cute”
the more he blusters. Kithyra panics when she switches places with Korvax, and, finding
Chaiais in a similar predicament, hunts him down to strangle him, assuming he is to blame.
Korvax, enjoying his stint as RKR, turns her wardrobe black and orders a large shipment of
56
sex toys under her name. Electra the brawny fighter (now being written by Carey, as Joan
was taking a semester’s leave), finds herself transformed into a rat. Hawk is suddenly
Electra; Cherissa’s body is occupied by a no-longer-buxom barmaid; Kirlawath is a wingless
Adain; even Atri, not one to miss a good party, takes over Hawk. In the midst of such chaos
the volume ends.
Volume III, Book IV Jan 29- March 2, 1991
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: [Ellen] The Lady riding unicorn sidesaddle, Tree of Life borders
Map: no new changes
Brief summary: Body swap continues, Tryta and Sevin’s liason, Tea— with Lizards, Brandon
returns, Chaiais leaves Elsinore to continue search, Quest returns to Elsinore and is greeted
by Kithyra
Detailed Summary: Body Swap continues, upsetting almost all its participants. Sevin
and Tryta (twin in Thea’s body) restore their own forms and have a strange liason [picture].
Orn, in Friedrich’s body, helps a terrified Thea/Yardan give birth, with the aid of the other
twin (now a barmaid) helping midwife herself, and several liches (to Sir Ælthon’s dismay).
Lyra freaks when Friedrich winds up in her body, and tries to drive him out. Cherissa,
delighted to become Lady Brendan, is not so pleased when Brandon starts speaking in her
head— but obeys all his commands, including kicking a drunk such that he’d make a
candidate for the “Castrated Boys’ Choir”. Ælthon ends up in Matsy’s body on Lyra’s lap;
Matsy (now in Sir Ælthon) starts crying.
Ælthon spies Squiffy keeping an eye on
Yardan/Thea’s ceasarian, and berates her for causing mortals anguish; she ignores the
presumptuous knight coolly.
In Elsinore, Louis and Prince Fayr switch places, and the boy enjoys being prince for
the day (baffling Jack and building a fort out of library books). The Prince revels in his
child’s body, skips through the castle, and eventually amuses himself hurling “Peer
Xanthonie” books out the window. [a common practice in Denbigh Back Smoker for sexist
books like the Xanth series]. Chaiais and Kithyra, still in mages’ bodies, meet up with Merra
( in Arielle’s body) and search for the second-rate sorceress, hoping Arielle (stuck in Orn)
can fix the problem— before Chaiais, trapped in Sevin, accidentally torches the castle. Jack
bumps into them and nearly is convinced of Kithyra’s identity, but Korvax, invisible, makes
Kithyra appear to cast a fireball, and the deputy flees. Threar, meanwhile, baffled at
Wyrdan/Chaias until he figures out what’s happened, kidnaps the ensorceled dragon, then
shows up to bribe Chaiais— he will switch her and Wyrdan if she kisses him. Chaiais
agrees, only if Threar will accept payment first; Threar, outwitted, gives in. Wyrdan and
Kithyra go back to her office to rest; Wyrdan gives her a shoulder rub and shares an unusual
moment of tenderness before curling up at “her” feet.
In the middle of all this, a civilized tea, with pet lizards, takes place in the castle.
Talley and Tolley introduce their gecko and chameleon; several show up wearing firelizards,
including Threar; and even Brecca introduces her gila monster. Korvax, not to be outdone,
flings a dead lizard, saying “Meet Joe”. Soon after, Squiffy starts putting people back in their
own bodies, causing not a few minor accidents, especially to those whose bodies had been
flying. Korvax, in particular, has just woken Kithyra and Wyrdan with a fireball, and
suddenly finds himself staring at his own spell. Dissipating it, he asks Kithyra calmly (and
deceptively) how she feels about being a mother, and leaves the RKR sputtering. Cherissa
57
has the worst of it: the barmaid leaves her borrowed host’s body with a massive hangover,
which the Fool can do little to alleviate.
Time for angst. Kithyra worries about being pregnant, and in her dreams nearly
remembers Brandon, but Corinna blocks the memory. Chaiais dreams of her own future,
standing by the unicorn as her tower falls [Pictured. Note: This actually occurs in another
universe and time, when Chaiais begins her career on the _Starbucket_, an SF writing
storyboard on the Bryn Mawr VAX read or written in by many members of the Smokers and
Doublestar]. Orn, back in her own body, dreams of her past: as a child with budding healing
talent, she had failed to save her Master’s son; the concussion she got from being beaten for it
wiped out all her magical Talent. Back at the Inn, Sir Ælthon has to baby-sit in the company
of liches, which he, as a cleric-trained fighter, abhors; later, he is even more upset to find
strange hourglasses appearing on his magic cloak. Cherissa accidentally uses her newlyawakened powers to turn Thea (spying on her) back into a chesspiece, and is frightened when
she realizes what she has done. Brendan returns to her own body and Brandon’s torment,
wishes for “peace and quiet”, and vanishes again, as Brandon reappears. Elsewhere, Gaea is
frustrated by her moody trainer, who is still starving herself to death. Korvax goes back to
the ruins of his home to contemplate his bitter past [picture by Ellen] and tells a story to a
child who happens by.
Serena, meanwhile, horrified “the day after” when she finds herself in Mandy’s bed,
flees in shame and slits her wrists by a stream. Her cousin Samantha finds her and teleports
her to the castle, desperately seeking a healer. Merra comes first; she has just concluded a
bittersweet interview with an older, half-insane Sevin, when she hears Samantha’s cry. The
shapeshifter alters her own hand to meld it to Serena’s wrist, giving of her own blood until
healer Brecca comes in the nick of time. [picture by Carey of Brecca watching over Serena in
Healers’ Quarters].
Kithyra, working in her office next day, has an audience with Chaiais, who explains
her past, her quest, and proposes to go out seeking the Unicorn of Elsinore. Kithyra gives
what advice she can and sends her off with warm wishes, and Chaiais leaves the castle.
Those who have been busy all night— Merra, Brecca, and Korvax— head for well-earned
rest. Hawk, spying a black bird circling the garden, goes out to the edge of the forest to
rejoin her leader Raven and the other Sentinals. Korvax is adopted by a peculiar snake. And
Chaiais finds lodgings at The Inn of the Rowan Tree, where she pays for her supper by
harping and volunteering to heal a village boy.
Meanwhile, back at the Inn, the Questors get ready to set off again. Sir Ælthon and
Brandon— two slimhipped, longhaired, tightpanted gents— escort Electra outside. Cherissa,
uses her newfound power to torch trees, much to her delight. She manages to put out the fire,
and the Questors head onward yet again, leaving a trail of scorched shrubbery behind them.
Finally, the Questors at last reach Elsinore’s gates, where they are welcomed by Kithyra and
Wyrdan. She does not— quite— recognize Brandon, and is disturbed to learn of her own
amnesia. [portrait, song, and score by Ellen] Korvax appears and taunts Brandon as “it”,
Electra as “gorilla”, and only Kithyra’s warning prevents the proud woman from getting
herself toasted. Yardan continues the argument while the others go inside. Sir Ælthon and
Brandon, after swearing fealty to Kithyra, depart to make themselves “presentable” for a
banquet to be held in the Quest’s honor. Kithyra is stymied by the device on Brandon’s
sword, a duck.
Volume III, Book V. March 2-April 1, 1991
58
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: In the garden of Elsinore next to wall with stained glass window, a blue-winged
faerie woman holding elf owl and staff topped with pentacle; to her left a chalice on altar
table painted with crown, sun and moon; to her right Wyrdan.
Map: no new additions
In Brief: Chaiais competes in ritual contest for her freedom from a Lord Ehren; Banquet
including knighting of Jack & Korvax, assassination attempt on RKR, flirtation of Blackfire
and Electra; Lyra leaves to join Circle; Ducks descend on the castle; Legend of Duque de
Alba; Ælthon pursued by Lolth; ominous appearances in the garden
Detailed Summary:
First, a summary of Chaiais’ adventures throughout the volume: As promised, she
tends the villager Derry’s young son Jerrin, whose leg is badly torn and infected. Hearing of
this, the local lord summons her to heal an injured hunting hound. She meets the maskwearing Lord Ehren, and is uncomfortably reminded of Threar. The next day she is
summoned again by a rude guard. Refusing, she risks the Lord’s wrath; but she will not flee,
for Jerrin will die if she does not tend him for a few more days. Before Lord Ehren can take
her by force, Chaiais challenges him to a three-part ritual, “Claiming the Unicorn”. Each part
lasts a day. The first, a chess game, Chaiais wins by Queening her pawns.
In Elsinore, people go about personal business. Lady Damoris of Romain [Jenn’s
character... with an odd resemblence to Brendan, now that I reread!] speaks to Squire
Gynseth, servant of the sinister Duchess Sirady of Antareth. Yardan, in her quarters, entrusts
the twins to the care of a nurse, Mearia, she has summoned from Klimia. Sevin drops by to
pay his respects to the infant Tryta. Kithyra, talking to young Cherissa, advises her to seek
Brecca for training. Brecca immediately makes a magical charm to absorb Cherissa’s
dangerous power until the girl can learn to control it. A new character, a fortune-teller
written once in the last volume, appears somewhere in the castle, knowing little more than
her name, Magenta, [Jennifer Freeman ’94] and that she seeks one called Iris.
Folk assemble for the banquet. The elven warrior Electra [picture by Carey] even
dresses for the occasion, and trades pointed remarks with Blackfire the eloquent dragon
(wearing human form) before leaving on his elbow [Carey, writing for Joan in her absence,
writes repeated asides, denying responsibility for Electra’s remarks and insisting that Joan,
Robin, and others have commanded her to write such schlock. Robin inserts occasional
gloating.] During the banquet, Kithyra toasts the questors, knights Jack and renames him Sir
Fortensius, and, with no little irony, knights Korvax for repeatedly saving the life of
Elsinoreans— herself included. Following the ceremony, Kithyra is confused by Brandon,
who mouths “Duck”. His meaning becomes clear when a goblet is hurled against her chair
and dissolves part of the legs with its contents. Kithyra can get no answers from Brandon
about it. After the banquet, she meets Sir Ælthon in the garden, and the two compare their
different faiths and loyalties.
Merra, meanwhile, greets the returning Sentinals, Kirlawath, and the other bond-birds
of the flight. Elsewhere in the forest, a woman is transported— she is Kaila, [Amy
Learmonth] an assassin betrayed by the man she loves, exiled by her beloved master who,
instead of killing her for failure, transports her away with the revelation that he returns her
love. Kaila [picture by Carey] suffers from exhaustion, starvation, and understandable
paranoia. And in yet another forest glade, Lyra [Heather’s, remember?] meets up with Tillek,
who tells her the Circle needs her to rescue some slaves. Having felt mostly useless in
59
Elsinore’s world of magic, quests, and knights, the peasant woman gladly assents, still taking
care not to endanger Matsy. Lyra goes back to give Kithyra a brief goodbye, and slips away.
Ælthon, preparing for bed after the banquet, is visited by a drow [Ellen’s] disguised as
Lady Brendan (“You were expecting a duck, maybe?”), who has come to “collect” him for
the black widow/ drow goddess Lolth. Lolth wishes to possess Ælthon and his people, for
She believes (as in the D&D paradigm) that all Drow are Hers. The minion casts a spell to
“reveal his true nature” and leaves him with a cruel-looking dagger. Korvax, too, is visited
by a Drow female disguised as Merra, wanting to make a morsel out of him; he turns her into
a glass doorstop. Yardan also has a visitor, Nian [Angela’s], an assassin who makes his
entrance by trying to kill Khal; Nian obviously fell in love with her while she trained in the
assassin’s school, and he and Khal spend most of the volume squabbling.
Ælthon’s situation grows worse throughout the volume. His mother, a priestess of
Corellon, calls on him to help her save his planet, then breaks contact, accusing him of being
Lolth’s already. Soon, he finds, she is right; on the way back to his Quarters, he meets and
“slays” Yardan, who knows exactly what’s going on and is using hre “death” to shock Nian
and Khal into behaving; her immortality is not widely known. (Squiffy and Lolth are amused;
they discuss it over their Wednesday tea.) Later, after he has taken to avoiding all women for
fear Lolth will again sway his actions, he nearly does the same to Kithyra when she confronts
him about his sudden reclusiveness. Merra, who has been keeping a watchful eye on him,
confronts him and threatens to kill him if he cannot shake Lolth’s control.
Orn, Arielle, and Marian, in the Library, discuss how to help their fallen sister. They
decide to journey from town to town, researching and exploring until they find a cure . The
Fool [picture], eavesdropping, volunteers his services; Orn, dubious of his parlor tricks,
nevertheless agrees to let him come. Arielle accidentally casts a spell on a passing duck to
turn it into a Quantum Duck (“Quark! Quark! Quark!”). [It is during this period that Ellen
has a page deliver a crate of ducks to Lord Brandon, and Lady Damoris sets them free. From
then on, ducks wander the castle and appear incongruously in the background during
dramatic moments; Robin Meyer becomes the Duckmeister, and Jenn Lin, who started it all,
gets an official license from sadistic friends to be the but of duck jokes.] Cherissa,
meanwhile, receives stern lessons from Brecca learning to control her energy. She tries to
show Friedrich what she has learned, but slips, fireballs him, panics, and would have melted
the castle had not Brecca come to put the fire out. Friedrich is miraculously unharmed.
Cherissa later meets Kaila, and takes the hunger- weakened woman to Brecca to heal.
More weirdness from Angela: the snake Korvax adopted goes wandering the castle,
and bumps into “T H E S
L
O
T H
O
N
V
A
L
I
U
M”. This creature gets about two sentences out per volume. They speak with J.
Danfowl Quayle, one of many ducks. Korvax encounters another in the garden, along with a
red faerie dragon, and an annoying and mysterious lord Brandon. Korvax is exasperated by
all three.
On a more serious (and historical) note, Kithyra learns the history of the RKR’ sword
from Jack, which I include here:
The Legend of the Duque de Alba
“Alba was once a prosperous country bordering on that of Elsinore; its
capital was Kyrsath. Some say the founder of the dynasty, the first Duque de
60
Alba, was from another world, where he had been cast out for marrying a
woman of Faerie blood. And so he had fled to the land of her mothers, to
Elsinore, and started life anew. In time, the Dukedom grew great and strong
through art, not war, for the wisdom of Faery stayed with the ruling family. It
was a long line and a revered one; its descendents had many ties with that of
the Royal House of Elsinore.
At any rate, shortly before the sacking of old Elsinore, the Duque died,
leaving only one son as heir. Thus the young Trelano received the Dukedom at
the age of twenty. He was invited to Elsinore by the King and Queen to
celebrate and honor his new exalted status. There was talk that a marriage
would be arranged between himself and a daughter of the Royal Family,
perhaps even Princess Elspeth herself, when she came of age.
“So it happened that the young Duque de Alba had just been received by
the King and Queen at the very moment of the attack. Rather than flee the
castle and perhaps escape to his own Dukedom, Trelano helped in the defense
of the doomed castle. He gave his life protecting the Queen, and was said to
have fought with valor and fortitude long after the rest of the defenders had
fallen. We have this account from the accursed raiders themselves, who were so
impressed by his courage, that after the castle had been sacked and burned, they
erected a memorial for him in the spot where he perished. Upon the stone they
engraved the tale which I have just related, and there they left his sword. It is
one of the few relics to survive the catastrophe, and the only one that was not
carried away to safety from the castle.
“When Queen Elspeth came to the throne and Elsinore was restored to its
former greatness, the people of Alba, now lacking a ruler, asked that their lands
come under her rule and protection. It was done. In honor of the noble Duque
Trelano, Queen Elspeth decreed that from henceforth her Royal Knight would
be known also as the honorary Duque de Alba, Defender of the Realm, and that
his weapon should become the Sword of Office for that position.”
[The real RKR’s sword, a replica, was purchased by Ellen Brundige from a store in
Wilmington, DE, Day s of Knights, for $45. Curious about the name on the blade, Ellen
found in the Encyclopedia Britannica that the 3rd Duque of Alba was a cruel persecutor of
“heresy” for Phillip of Spain, but his son married a “witch”, and the pair mysteriously
vanished just before the Inquisition caught up with them.]
Finally, much is afoot in the the garden. Wyrdan and the red faerie dragon [Angela]
frolic, while Korvax looks ominous. Cedric stops by to give Kithyra her sword. A black
Presence appears and scares the shit out of Korvax— Kithyra is understandably even more
alarmed. Friedrich tries to defend the RKR. The volume ends with them staring pensively at
the dark cloud.
Volume III, Book VI April 1-April 23, 1991
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
61
Frontispiece: spring colors; Wyrdan nose to bill with duck on sidewalk; daffodils (modelled
on those planted by smokerite Becca Mattis ’90 on path to gym) in background; sixteen
Celtic Knotwork Ducks in pink & yellow
Map: No new additions
In Brief: Authors appear in garden, with cats;Yardan, Khal, and Nian leave and are
ambushed; Star departs on quest to find cure for Lorelie (meet Old Fran); Kaila the paranoid
assassin is tended by Brecca and flirts with Aeric; Chaiais continues contest with Lord Ehren;
Cherissa’s magic lessons under Brecca; Friedrich going weird; Tickle fights all around;
Korvax and Merra switch sexes; Ælthon nearly kills Kithyra and is taken by Lolth
Detailed Summary: Ominous female presence in the garden calls red faerie dragon
and black&white cat [modelled on author Angela’s demoncat, Cuddles]. An elderly Ellen
[written by same] shows up with her own cat Galena and a catfight ensues, while Ellen calms
Kithyra and addresses her as Granddaughter. Angela writes herself in long enough to banish
the mysterious Presence. Ellen departs after an audience with the Queen. Cherissa talks to
Friedrich, who is feeling odd (and notices, disconcertingly, how time is flowing at different
speeds in the garden). Cherissa distracts him with a ticklefight which results in Friedrich
losing his pants— to his embarassment, when Sir Fortensius walks in on them. Yardan bids
Kithyra farewell and the friends exchange gifts. That night Yardan dreams of her childhood,
the usurper first coming to her parents’ court and his successful attack during her birthday
party a few days later. The next morning they leave. Later in the volume, they sign in at an
Inn whose keeper is a front for a bandits’ operation; the bandits try to ambush the trio the
next day after they leave. Nian and Khal are captured and dragged off by those who flee
while Yardan is busy blowing up the rest of their attackers. Nian chats with his captors.
Khal, being held elsewhere, escapes, but won’t leave without Nian and is recaptured. Nian’s
own escape attempt is baffled when Khal’s search party drags him back to camp; the leader,
Daeria, angrily knocks out her two captives.
Marian has a solitary Ritual in the forest for the quest she and her Star are about to
embark upon to find a cure for Lorelie [portrait by author Susan Keener]. The Star assembles
next morning in various states of coherency and depart, Fool in tow. Later in the volume,
they come to a town where the Fool finds them a place to stay in an inn where he used to
perform. He introduces Orn to Old Fran (whom she originally thought must be an old flame),
an old woman with the Sight who looks after all the orphans in the village. She encourages
Arielle, telling the hapless sorceress that magic comes in time and that the schools don’t
always know how to teach properly; the Fool, meanwhile, amuses everyone with his antics.
Marian goes out to the stable for privacy and meets a stableboy who offers words of hope in a
strange voice, then vanishes.
Brecca tends to the now-comatose Kaila with much shouting and cursing, while
Journeyman Aeric [Carey] makes his first appearence to provide a lifefeed. Kaila has
flashbacks to her last serious injury, when her lord Julian, under a spell, nearly killed her
before she could break the enchantment. Later, recovered somewhat, she flirts with Aeric
and tries to find out from Brecca as much as she can, assuming they will kill her when they
learn she is an assassin. She is careful to betray nothing next morning when Kithyra arrives
in the Healers’ Quarters for her check-up (Brecca is stymied to find her completely healed).
After Kithyra leaves, Aeric and Kaila have a Cuteness Contest which the latter wins
by falling asleep clutching his arm like a teddy bear. They continue to flirt guardedly
throughout the volume. Cherissa stops by to check on the “pretty lady”, and Aeric talks to her
in a kindly fashion until Kaila wakes up.
62
Chaiais concludes and wins the chess game with Lord Ehren and continues the contest
the next day. The second part, a fencing match of dancing in which unicorn masks are the
weapons, she loses [beautiful picture by Carey]. The third day is the hunt, where Chaiais ,
on horseback, must reach the pavillion from the forest before Lord Ehren catches her.
Merra and Korvax share strange thoughts on the cliffs, until Korvax is attacked by
Psychic Vampires [Angela] which Merra fends off. They have a tickle fight and are seen by
an appalled Sir Fortensius; Korvax nearly gives him a heart attack by tumbling over the edge,
then appearing in his study and berating him for spying. The numerrous tickle fights are
parodied by the ducks [Robin]. Korvax’s sister, meanwhile, is getting back to the routine of
living with the Sentinels; Falcon and two others of her Flight make her a feathered cloak.
Friedrich is getting worse; both acting and feeling strange, his usual boyish
enthusiasm is completely absent [portrait of his more usual self by Ellen]. Kithyra takes him
to the practice ground to get him distracted. He talks a little about his parents’ deaths in the
cataclysm of Amryth, and how he is ashamed to feel nothing for them. He says he feels like
something is very wrong with him. Kithyra advises him to ask Brecca about it. On the way,
he runs into Cherissa, who has just finished her day’s lesson on shields with Brecca. He
unwisely asks her to show him what she’s learned; Cherissa, taking off her amulet, nearly
melts the hallway when she loses control. Brecca arrives to restore order and deal with a
distraught Cherissa.
Ælthon fights Lolth but continues to succomb; even trying to avoid all possible
victims by hiding, he nearly kills a courtesan who seduces him.
Ælthon determines to
commit suicide; but Kithyra bursts in on him [picture] and all but dissuades him before Lolth
forces him to cut her throat. Ælthon fights back long enough to close the would with his
cleric’s spells, then flees. He meets his niece Charis [picture] who offers to “take him to
grandmother”, and before he can protest, he is transported to Lolth’s very webs. In the end he
insists that, while she can kill him, she cannot force him to be other than what he is, and,
furious, the spider queen opts for the former. Kithyra, meanwhile, dreams that she fights and
kills him, and is confronted by Atri’s ghost for all the deaths on her hands. Merra rouses her
and takes her to the healers, acting as blood donor. Then Merra goes to join Korvax for
breakfast, after which they change sexes and have sex.
Fortensius storms into Kithyra’s office next morning, where she has been mourning
Ælthon. Fort changes tack when he sees her, asking what has happened, but Kithyra won’t
talk about it. Fort then embarassedly asks about her order from an S&M catalog (Korvax did
it while in her body).
Volume III, Book VII April 23, 1991-May 18, 1991
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: Carey Herz ’94: “Transformation”; watercolor with yellow floral border, left
half of picture day, right night over castle Elsinore, in middle foreground a hilltop with
woman in brown shift spreading rainbow wings, a lantern below left and cup to right, a
stream bubbling up at her feet and running down hill.
Map: Fish added river Aelfwent and city Healdsadhart in upper nortwest; Signé Hanson
returned to add Mountain of Phoenix just northwest of Leaf Lake and Withollowmimon
Range + River running south from Dur-Ashur (two features she remembered from her days as
RKR II).
In sum: Ælthon returns and wins Kithyra’s and eventually Fortensius’ trust; chaiais
loses the chase and refuses to let a Unicorn offer its life in her stead, and Threar (posing as
63
Lord Ehren) demands a token of surrender; Cherissa and Friedrich consult Brecca about their
respective curses and decide Friedrich must return to his birthplace to seek the cure for his
malady; Yardan rescues her boys and invites the leader of the bandits, Daeria, to join them;
the half-demon Rialla banishes the slavers in her realm and goes looking for Korvax and
Vetris, her old friends, in Elsinore; she does not get along with Ælthon; Korvax turns the
Great Hall into a swimming pool; Friedrich goes weird and sleeps with Kaila; Sevin, Spider
Grandmother, and Delva Half-Dragon visit; Ælthon and Kithyra finally decide to get married
Detailed Summary: Sir Ælthon reappears unconscious in the Great Hall and Kithyra
orders guards to escort him to the Healers. She is entertained by Aeric and Kaila’s flirting
while she waits for Ælthon to awaken. Fortensius doesn’t understand, although Ælthon
apologizes for his actions while under Lolth’s influence. Korvax, still female, drops in to
disconcert everyone (Aeric even more than Kithyra) and have a chessmatch-like conversation
with the secretive Kaila after Kithyra and the Drow depart. Kithyra, wanting to trust Ælthon,
allows him to accompany her under guard and Wyrdan’s watchful eyes. Fortensius,
researching Lolth in the Library, is taunted by a female Korvax (a duck shows up to pin a
sign on his robes saying “Kiss me, I’m Korvette”), and realizes what Ælthon meant. Kithyra
and Ælthon have a tense stroll in the garden, until Wyrdan (at Ælthon’s covert suggestion)
attacks Ælthon for calling him “little” and renders the drow into a quivering mass of giggles,
at which Kithyra cannot help being amused.
Chaiais, elsewhere, nearly wins the chase, but Lord Ehren shoots her horse. Then the
Unicorn comes to rescue her [picture by Carey], offering itself in her place, as Lord Ehren
reveals himself to be Threar. Chaiais refuses the exchange, and offers her own life; Threar,
beaten, has no use for her death and demands a token of surrender— she chops off a braid
which he binds to his wrist. Defeated, Chaiais must leave the village she’d hoped would be a
new home.
Cherissa consults Brecca about her terrible power; the old healer is reluctant to dash
Cherissa’s hopes by revealing that the child’s magic is only destructive, and she will never be
able to use her Talent to create or heal. Friedrich interrupts their interview to ask Brecca
what’s wrong with him; Brecca discovers he is not human, and that he seems to be changing.
He decides he had better return to the Well where he was born in Amryth, to which he has
been drawn; but he will postpone it as long as he can. Cherissa vows to accompany her best
friend.
Hawk has unpleasant nightmares about slavers. Elsewhere, a Lady she once served,
Rialla, is annoyed to find thieves she has suffered to dwell in her realm are spying on her and
Hawk/Vetris— after dispatching the spy. The slavers, banished by Rialla, are killed by
Korvax in vengeance for his sister Vetris. Rialla takes her mage Tarin and her psions as
guards and visits Elsinore in disguise to speak to the “baby mage” whose handiwork she
recognizes.
Meanwhile, Yardan has dispatched the bandits and rescued Khal and Nian; the leader
of the bandits, Daeria, is an Elpheran mercenary stranded by the former sackers of Elsinore
who hired her; offered an alternative to scrounging for survival by preying on travellers, the
woman gladly throws in her lot with the Klimians.
Kithyra, working back in her office again, overhears Ælthon speaking aloud to his
mother who contacts him telepathically. Ælthon is relieved to learn his people have followed
his example and defied Lolth; the survivors have been restored by Corellon to their homes.
Kithyra, now certain of Ælthon’s trustworthiness, returns his sword and cloak which she’d
been keeping in his memory; Fortensius bursts in on them to find the elf giving her a
64
backrub. [picture] Wyrdan promises the suspicious castellan that he’ll keep an eye on things.
The pair of knights go to the practice grounds to hone Kithyra
’s skills. Afterwards, in the
garden, Kithyra inadvertantly spills some rather personal thoughts via telepathy, and Ælthon
teases her for broadcasting. She is more than a little upset to find she, too, has magic; she has
never been comfortable with the idea. [picture of Ælthon leaving her for a while to freak in
private.] Later that night, Kithyra and Ælthon [yet another portrait] share the same vision, a
vivid and very realistic dream in which they go on a long quest together to realize, in the end,
that it was Ælthon whom Kithyra had been sent to search for. Both of them awaken from the
dream and find each other in the garden, where they fall asleep together on Merra’s roots.
In a bar near Elsinore, Rialla is leered over by a local patron and gets into a brawl;
Lady Electra, who loves brawling and carousing, happens to be having a drink there and
cheerfully joins in. Rialla suffers a broken arm and is taken to the healers by Electra. She
has a guarded conversation with , then startles everyone by dropping her illusion and
revealing herself to be half demon.
It’s a busy night; goes wandering, as do Friedrich and Kaila. The latter pair find
Cherissa and take her back to bed. Friedrich starts to escort Kaila to the , but has another
weirdness attack and becomes lecherous. Kaila, amused, allows the youth to seduce her.
[excerpt from the King Arthur play of Abigail Carlton courtesy of her friend Robin: “My
virgin ears are burning...!” Robin adds a description of Kaila and Friedrich’s authors, who
have fainted in embarrassment; and finally, some gratuitous Duck Sex] Not until morning
does Friedrich come to his senses; he drops her off at the Healers’ Quarters and flees.
Daeria, meanwhile, stumbles across Ælthon and Kithyra and barely restrains herself
from ripping out the drow’s throat: clerics of his kind and demons rub each other the wrong
way. The pair of knights go off to the Great Hall for breakfast to find swimming laps in it
(he/she converted it to a pool). Kithyra, raging at him helplessly, storms off.
shows up at
this point, lectures Korvax, makes him restore the Great Hall, and go apologize to . Rialla
invites the “baby mage” to a reunion, then challenges Ælthon to an ostensibly friendly duel.
Kithyra watches the two excellent swordsmasters until Rialla calls a draw. Rialla goes off to
give
an invitation. Sir Ælthon and Kithyra go back to the RKR’s office, where she
eventually grows distracted and timidly starts to kiss him— on cue, Sir Fortensius bursts in,
glares at Ælthon (whom he still suspects to be Lolth’s minion), and leaves them to carry on.
Merra finds a much older Sevin outside, and coaxes him to come into the castle to
hide from whomever he hinted was pursuing him. He loses control of his magic for a
moment, long enough to open a portal in the Great Hall, and a strange old woman pops
through. She, Spider Grandmother [beautifully written by Carey] scolds Ælthon gntly for his
understandable fear of spiders, and tells them all a story before she goes. Meanwhile Delva
Half-Dragon also drops in to seek aid from her grandmother Merra; she is cursed to have the
three supreme dragons of Good, Balance, and Evil taking enough of an interest in her to
speak in her mind. Korvax gives her magical shields to help.
Finally [After all the other writers had already left, so that six months or so could
elapse without having to be written] Ælthon and Fortensius are reconciled, and, as the old
man now hopes, the Drow and Kithyra decide to be married.
Volume IV, Book I; Sept. 3rd 1991-Sept 29 1991
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
65
Frontispiece: Heather Garrett 93+; 2-page spread of stained glass windows surrounded by
knotwork borders; background pieces in colors of 4 elements, foreground flame-like dragon,
triskelion [Heather’s symbol], moonphases
Map: never completed!
In Brief: wedding of Ælthon & Kithyra, Ballad of Ælthon and Kithyra, The Hiatus,
Kaila falling ill from curse; Friedrich getting weirder and Chaiais coming to help him;
unexplained Corpse in the bay; Ehecatl deals with Tezcatlipoca; Lady Rhannwynne
introduced; Korra and Sevin introduced; “Pound... Pound... Pound” went the blue monk, the
pink triangle chess match between the stranger and the duck; Kithyra and Ælthon take small
band to Klimia for Yardan’s coronation
Detailed Summary: Opens with brief scene of Bekta plotting escape from the demons
before switching to swordswoman Electra [first entry by Joan on her return] prowling for
pages. Wyrdan announces wedding; Talley drops in on Kithyra to congratulate her as she is
dressing. Elsewhere, on the road, a nobleman nearly runs over a waif in his carriage, scoffs at
her plea for a coin, and is astonished when she transforms momentarily into a huge
swordswoman who relieves him of cash [Stephanie Goellner ’92]. And there is a strange
passage by Jenn Lin of Lady Damoris, bound now to harper Gynseth, and her horrific visions.
Ehecatl [a flashback, I suppose; Fish hadn’t written in so long she’d apparently
forgotten he’d been healed already, still as Huextli, meets Derayn [portrait by Fish] at the
stream and is healed; he then rides for Elsinore. Arriving, he heads straight up the tower
[portrait by Fish]. Fish also introduces Rhannewynne and her steed Firebrand, a young lady
(14) of the court of Healdsadhart, in love with Prince Rhys who barely knows her. Derayn,
elsewhere, wakes up, looks for her pursuer Samantha, then rides off to Nur. Arrow and
Raikaith still travel together.
Preparations for the wedding continue; Kithyra’s faerie grandmother, with elf owl
Phidias, appears in the garden and greets Wyrdan and Merra; Ælthon’s mother, bearing a
small silvertree from his world as a wedding gift, arrives skyclad. Brandon and five knights
primp for the wedding (“Who took my fishnets!”), but when Samaietyn shows up they freak
like stereotypical housewives at a mouse. Cherissa drags Kaila to the wedding in excitement,
deciding she wants to be married; Sir Rhyal, with duck in tow [Robin Meyer the
Duckmeister] shows up, and the ceremony begins. Fortensius plays the part of Kithyra’s
father and is appalled by Ælthon’s mother and Korvax, skyclad. Adrian drops in in the midst
of the vows, teleported back through time. [picture of Kithyra proposing inserted here, since
last volume was archived, and portrait of couple at wedding] A girl in grey with a snake in
her hair drops in to congratulate the couple [Heather Garrett, a character that did not take
root]. After the ceremony, gifts are given— six zombie lepers from Korvax, Electra offering
fealty, the terribly overblown “Ballad of Ælthon and Kithyra” from bard Tristan, and, from
Kithyra’s faerie grandmother, a whimsical creature called a Hiatus: “So great was its power
that when the Authors of Elsinore awoke from their trance, many years had passed in
Elsinore without being chronicled. Moreover, due to the unique nature of Elsinore’s warped
timestream... only a year had passed in a few areas, whereas in others, nearly twenty years
had flown. Relieved at this convenient interlude... the Authors cheerfully returned to the
Tale.” By such a plot device we were able to skip however many years we wanted in each
character’s life, allowing children to grow older or be born.
Everyone write updates on their characters. For Yardan, it’s been ten years, and she
finally returns to Karmath and issues invitations for her coronation. Angela also introduces
several new characters, including a servant of Viviane of Avalon, a young woman named
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Marya who arrives in Elsinore and winds up working for the head cook. Susan writes briefly
of Highlander, still watching over Marian from afar. Chaiais returns to Elsinore and finds Sir
Fortensius and Ælthon at their usual chess game (they play during Kithyra’s afternoon
audience with the Queen.). Several others travel towards the castle: a bard, a young knight
errant, the latter with a cat pooka and the former with a firelizard [Joan]. Of Amy’s
characters, Cherissa has mastered control of her magic but still has much to learn, and Kaila
is slowly dying from a curse that will kill her if she does not take a life every five years.
Kithyra’s family has grown; her nine-year-old daughter Brialla (aptly nicknamed “Briar”)
who prefers Daddy [portrait was drawn during his Lolth days, hence hourglass] and cousin
Korra to Mommy. Flashback to Korra’s arrival on her smoke dragon Ash. Korra, a Witch,
inherited a lethal combination of mother Korvax and father Merra’s arts: she can create or
destroy anything just by wishing, but for every magic, the opposite also occurs. During the
intervening years Sevin has come to her as an apprentice, seeking to learn control from the
much younger mage— they treat each other with a strange sort of disdain, for Korra dares not
trust him and he has never been close to anyone.
Briar finds a corpse [picture by Fish] on the beach while walking alone, and Korra is
summoned by her scream. Korra has Sevin transport it to Kithyra’s office. The Royal
Knight comes in after talking to Kaila, whom she advises to ask Korra for help. Kithyra
grimly has the body put in a stasis field, issues a proclamation asking for information about
the deceased, and goes to the garden, where a strange man gives her a severed head in a bag
with her seal and some coins, a message, and then teleports away in an ominous rosebush
when she grows angry with his evasive answers [Stephen Mulholland, fixated on roses from a
horrific RPG.]
Friedrich, weird as always, challenges Kaila to a wrestling match and undergoes
multiple personality switches over the course of a few minutes (including Humperdink from
Princess Bride). Both wind up injured and are dragged to the Healers’ Quarters. Aeric and
Brecca tend to them, then the old healer sends Delva, who has had a very long day, to her
Workroom to work out her frustrations by breaking furniture. Korra arrives in the Healers’
Quarters with a distraught Sevin (his pet winged panther has been stolen), and tells Kaila how
to command the witch’s smoke elemental, who will take Kaila to her own world where she
can track down and destroy the wizard who laid the curse upon her. Cherissa also comes to
the Healers, summoned by the apprentice Mai [Carey’s, as is the girl’s fellow apprentice Ter]
to Friedrich’s side.
Kithyra plans to leave for Yardan’s coronation, leaving Sir Fortensius as her deputy
and Adrian in charge of the murder investigation. Kithyra, Ælthon, and Briar have one last
evening together in the garden singing ballads about old Elsinoreans, where Chaiais finds
them and is welcomed by Kithyra. Chaiais says she was called hither by a vision about a sick
youth, and goes to find Friedrich on their advice. Kithyra goes to the woods to warn the
Sentinels of her absence before the family, with entourage, depart in the morning. Korra and
Sevin, meanwhile, share a strange night together— the disdainful elf is oddly protective of
the seventeen-year-old girl burdened by her curse.
Various plots and a host of new characters afoot: Derayn, meanwhile, returns to her
home Lothlanir. Rhannewyne, obviously older, bears a message to her haughty prince: his
enemy, the mage Tarnad is plotting. Prince Rhys treats her like an inferior, keeping her out
of trouble although she is a proven warrior, and Rhannewynne storms off (picture). Ehecatl
finds one of his foes, Tezcatlipoca, his brother who has somehow betrayed Ehecatl and the
being Tlalochi. Ehecatl departs to search for the latter.
67
Random silliness: In the garden, Stephen’s shadowy man returns and has a ridiculous
epic battle of chess with a duck [Robin] which results in all the pieces jumping each other
and the board turning into a giant pink triangle. A blue monk [Bill whatshisname, friend of
Stephen and Ellen] gets hauled to a dungeon, where a little man tells him “Feet first, it’s the
only way” and introduces his pet rat Arthur— the old man is a reference to Robin of
Sherwood.
The blue monk pounds his head on the cell walls, and such entries “Pound..
pound... pound” continue for several volumes.
New Characters: Corrie, an “Eremetic Archer,” enters Elsinore [Kate Verleger ’95].
There is an entry about a “Balensic Konbinopoluous”, probably by Bill, who is never seen
again. Another lady arrives in a flurry of Shakespeare quotes, penned by Jennifer Freeman—
perhaps the lady later called Magenta? Yet another old woman, a dying healer named Charle,
has been riding to Elsinore throughout the volume and now dies in Korvax’s arms; the mage,
calling her grandmother, gives her a decent burial. Charle reveals her enemies become
immune to any magic used against them once, and enslave any who use magic against them.
Korvax vows to wipe out her masters, which means he must go on a quest without using
magic.
Continuation of plots: Merra finds an ominous message scratched on the cliffs (from
Corinna), even as a sorceress sends someone named Timayan (written in sickly geen by Joan)
to Elsinore. Kaila’s illness is finally discovered by Aeric, who tries to pry from her what’s
causing it; she doesn’t want him to know about her curse, because then he would also learn
she was an assassin. Chaiais comes to Friedrich’s side and talks to him quietly, not telling
him everything she knows, but agreeing to help him and Cherissa journey to Amryth.
Kithyra and Ælthon, finally, continue towards Klimia, the Royal Knight having to deal with
memories of being a beggar on this road fifteen years before.
Volume IV, Book II Oct 2- Oct 29, 1991
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: ‘“Flying First class” Thanks to Lady Ynhared’— by Fish. T-page spread of
woman being carried by green dragon.
Map: only half finished.
Note: at the end of this volume, we were running low on paper and unanimously opted to
start using both sides of each page, figuring the sacrifice of not being able to use pens that
show through was a small price compared to the amount of paper we’d save.
In Brief: Kithyra’s family heads to Klimia; Friedrich,Cherissa, and Chaiais ride with them on
the way to Amryth; Fortensius is nearly assassinated; Aeric talks Kaila into letting him help
her try to break her curse; The star returns and cures Lorelie; the corpse in the bay is
identified as a lady who is supposedly dead and buried three years previous;Derayn returns to
Lothlanir and is arrested for murdering her betrothed, while her friend Eriend and Jeralte’s
bastard daughter Corrie vow to help her; Lady Rhannwynne is ordered to Elsinore by her
Prince Rhys; Yalla of the Circle seeks an Elsinorean healer
Detailed Summary: Picking up where last volume left off, Kithyra and family head for
Klimia and Yardan’s coronation; Cherissa and Chaiais take off with an ailing Friedrich for
Amryth; Korvax, refraining from magic, is on the road learning how to do without; and Æric
finally gets the truth out of Kaila about her curse. Also, the sickly green-eyed man [Joan]
goes to Fort’s office and stabs him to death— or nearly, since Fort’s author chickened out.
Brecca comes to the rescue and is badly wounded herself by the fleeing assassin, then
confronts Lord Death over Fort’s dying body [picture by Carey— “Shadows”.] Merra and
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Æric come to take care of them, baffled that Fort is still alive. Corrie the Eremetic archer
[Kate V.] shows up in time to organize a stretcher team.
Less frequent characters make their appearence: Alexander, the 7000 year old soul in
the body of a rat is playing around the castle, and Yarina returns to find some excitement
[Stephanie]. The blue monk continues pounding. Lady Rhannewynne (called “Firannhion”
by Prince Rhys, who uses titles as insults) is ordered by her prince on a page’s journey to find
a Lothlanir healer and an Elsinorean mage to help them in their wars. Rhannwynne is
annoyed at Rhys keeping her out of harm’s way— she doesn’t realize he is (of course) in love
with her.
On the road, Chaiais has dreams of herself dancing the Autumn [incredible watercolor
by Carey] and wakens in time to rouse Friedrich from nightmares. In Kithyra’s camp, Brialla
[definitive portrait] is being her usual self, waiting by the campfire for her cousin instead of
going to bed. A treebranch nearly squashes her, and there is strange singing in the trees...
after she falls asleep, her cloak nearly catches on fire before Matsy unexpectedly appears,
calmly putting out the fire. He doesn’t speak, even when Kithyra comes out to greet the
eight-year-old. Next day, Lyra and co are lead to Kithyra by Matsy, and ask Kithyra to look
after a newly-freed slave, Elise, whom they dare not take where they are planning to go next.
More Fish updates: Derayn arrives in Lothlanir to find her old friend Eriend, younger
brother to Derayn’s teacher Eriel. Eriend [picture] is guilt-ridden for not saving Eriel’s life
when a mysterious lightning bolt struck her, and Derayn tells him he’s a fool. Then the court
guards burst in and arrest Derayn for the murder of her betrothed, Jeralte. Eriend, unable to
help, rides to Elsinore to seek proof of Derayn’s innocence. He meets Corrie his pupil (and
Jeralte’s daughter via his rape of Derayn’s lover), and the pair plot to save Derayn. Derayn,
trapped in her cell [picture] tries to contact him. And Bekta continues to fight his way
through the demonrealm, seeking escape. Back in Elsinore, the Mistress of Chambermaids
tells a Flunky (concerning the mysterious corpse) :“I tell you she’s dead!” “’Course she is.
She’s a corpse.” [picture and characters by Fish] The Mistress then tells Adrian (still written
by Ellen) that the corpse is that of Lady Selene Armestre, who died three years before of
fever. Adrian, with fainting Flunkies, goes to the vault to discover Selene’s supposedly real
corpse is far less deteriorated than it should be. Meanwhile Raikath and Arrow continue their
search for the legendary Wanderer who may be able to send the ryll home— though Arrow,
over the years, has lost hope. Ehecatl reaches Tasyn'ka, where the Dark Mistress has
imprisoned Tlalochi. And Jeralte’s father Julian, who had Derayn arrested, plots with a mage
to keep her from discovering their schemes (obviously including the murder of her teacher.)
Friedrich & co join up with Kithyra’s party and continue west towards Klimia, where
we have a glimpse of Tryta and Gallea, Yardan’s irrepressible twins, their younger sister
Sirea, and Daeria, Yardan’s second in command, who has remained loyal in spite of her
unease with the local tree spirits. On the road, Cherissa tells Friedrich about her mother, a
minor death, from whom she has inherited her own curse. Cherissa’s innocently spoken
double entendres amuse Sir Ælthon. Wyrdan appears bearing a note from Sir Adrian telling
Kithyra of Fortensius’ near-assassination, and the Royal Knight reluctantly sends her husband
back to carry on her duties. Back at Elsinore, Korra bids her apprentice Sevin a brisk
goodbye and takes off on the road to do some travelling, as Korvax [picture] is doing
elsewhere. Delva is still in the castle, recuperating.
Brecca, as usual, is besieged by multiple requests: the Star returns with a cure for
Lorelie, and Brecca supervises while Orn administers the antidote to everyone, just in case.
A passing duck has the odd side effect of hiccups (“Ack-Qu!”) and tries to eat the Fool, who
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reacts even more strongly to the drug: he is turned into a frog (a blatant ploy to get Orn to
kiss him.) Brecca also answers Adrian’s questions about the assassin; when a short, elfin,
green-eyed man, Gavin, arrives, he is only too pleased to be mistaken for the criminal and
locked up. Another person, a young woman named Yalla, goes to Brecca’s study to wait for
an audience.
A magus in black [Angela], with cats as his own personal teleport service, drops in on
Delva to check on her. Sir Adrian is rather upset by the man, who is covered in blood from
an experiment. Elsewhere, a “Keeper” [Ellen], already in possession of Sevin’s cat, plots to
collect the mad elf and the equally mixed up Friedrich.
Finally, healer Aeric spends much of the volume talking Kaila into letting him come
with her, though he knows she will have to kill someone to end her curse.
Volume IV , Book III Sept. 29- Nov. 14, 1991
Royal Knight: Ellen Brundige ’93
Frontispiece: Carey Herz. Watercolor of a Circle dancing around cauldron on cliffs near
Elsinore at dawn, two trees behind them with full moon caught in branches, mostly in black
silhouette
Map: no new additions
Royal Decree: (the wording of which has remained the same, barring scribal creativity... apart
from rule #2 and changing “Kingdom” to “Realm”, the only changes from Volume II, Book I
are grammatical).
By Royal Decree:
1. All are welcome in this Realm that do abide by the Rules of Chivalry and the Laws of the
Queen.
2. Please do thou write only in ink that seepeth not through the page, so that thy words be
easily legible and doth not mar another's entry.
3. Make thy character according to thine own desire, but manipulate no one else's character,
only thine own. Thou art encouraged to note the place whence thou camest on the map that
doth succeed this page.
4. Thou art welcome and encouraged to illustrate thine adventures in thine own style, that all
may look upon thy character and admire thy drawings. Space in this book may be reserved
for illustration by noting in pencil the place thou desirest. Drawings may be done completely
in this book or upon separate sheets carefully affixed to its pages. Thou mayest also
commission other artist(s), if thou dreadest the Fine Arts.
5. Most importantly, DO NOT REMOVE THIS BOOK from the Smoker, lest others be
unable to find it. In direst need, appeal to the Royal Knight (the Queen's Administrator) to
make special arrangements.
70
[followed by Royal Knight's name, phone, and campus mail address, although these days the
phone # isn't such a bright idea.]
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In brief: Yalla and Myriam free two slaves from the young nobleman Kelner, meeting
Kelner’s slave and tutor Cathgar, a Circle secret agent; Corrie and Eriend try to rescue
Derayn, who is slain by her foes, and Orthax (Derayn’s magical steed) and Corrie must keep
Eriend from despair; Aeric and Kaila, falling in love, go to her world to find Andrei who laid
the curse on her; Ehecatl is captured by the mistress of Tasyn'ka who has his brother Tlalochi,
but freed by Lyra who is badly hurt in the process; Gan is tortuted by a strange and mad child;
Friedrich completes his transformation to Unicorn with Chaiais’ help, but is captured by the
Keeper along with Sevin, Delva, and many others; during the showdown Sevin burns out and
turns into Sialen, a weaker but much saner person; the Keeper is defeated and her prisoners
freed; Threar takes an interest in Cherissa and takes her to Wishworld
Detailed Summary: Kithyra’s family [picture halfway through volume] and
Friedrich’s party continue westward; Wyrdan has gone missing unnoticed, kidnapped by the
Keeper. The black magus who came to help Delva Half-dragon must first appease Sir
Adrian, who is placated when Merra steps in to assure him the blood-soaked mage is a friend.
In the meantime the Keeper has added Delva to her collection.
Yalla [picture by Heather] asks Brecca for a Healer to help a band of Circle members
and slaves injured in a raid in nearby Antareth; Brecca calls Aeric only to learn he’s “busy’
with Kaila. Brecca assigns healer Myriam [pronounced Myrhiam, Carey’s character] to help.
Eriend also drops by to beg Brecca for aid, should he and Corrie need it. Meanwhile, Ehecatl
infiltrates the Fortress of Tasyn’ka (built by Tezcatlipoca) but is snared in a stasis field by the
Mistress Lisette. He sends to Lyra for help, much to her discomfit, since she last saw him
trying to throttle Derayn. She agrees, after discussing it with Tillek, and takes Matsy, since
Gan, Dale, and Tillek will be engaging in an even more dangerous mission.
In random silliness, the twins Tryta and Gallea amuse themselves by painting the
nobles, and the ducks [pink by Abigail Carlton, blue Robin Duckmeister] engage in more
sex, cut short by a cat— the Quackus Interruptus scene. Aeric and Kaila flirt as they prepare
for departure to Kaila’s world.
The Keeper snatches Sevin and Arrow, just before the Wanderer whom Arrow was
searching for shows up. Raikath, left behind, “drops her fruit”. The Wanderer, written white
on black, is Fish’s fairly accurate version of Dream from The Sandman , though named as
such. [From here on several storylines are going on at the same time, the segments
intermingled in the volume as they were written, so I will try to seperate them for purposes of
clarity.]
In Lothlanir, Derayn’s enemies strike her cell with a lightning bolt, even as Orthax her
magical escapes and Eriend teleports to her [picture]. Brecca brings the elves back by magic,
but Derayn is already dead and Eriend badly hurt. Orthax comes to Elsinore as quickly as he
can, to help Brecca and Corrie keep Eriend from despair after he wakes up. Orthax (sounding
much like Derayn, to Eriend’s surprise) gives away the fact that Eriend has fallen for Corrie.
Yalla and Myriam run into the young nobleman Kelner, riding with two younger
slaves and an older one, Cathgar, who acts like a stern uncle to the boy. Yalla relieves the
boy of the two younger slaves, with Myriam’s help, and sends them to Elsinore. Cathgar, a
secret agent of the Circle, nearly blows his cover to the boy whom he is trying subtly to train
for the better. Yalla learns from Cathgar that one of the Circle has been taken alive in
Antareth, and rides on with Myriam (who wishes to join the Circle) with trepidation.
Lyra and Matsy ride to Tasyn’ka on a wind-mare to rescue Ehecatl, having cautious
telepathic conversation. Ehecatl has learned from Lisette that Bekta, alive, is imprisoned in
72
Hell. Lyra is upset, even more so when she learns Ehecatl is using her as much for
vengeance on the mistress as a means of escape. Lisette notes their conversing and tortures
Ehecatl. When Lyra arrives hours later, Lisette tries duping her by acting like a sobbing
maiden in distress, but Matsy sees through the “bimbette in pink.” Lisette hypnotizes the
child to join her and magically starts breaking Lyra’s bones. Lyra blows the pipes Ehecatl
once gave her just as she and Matsy collapse, and the god is freed. Calling his brother (?)
Tlalochi to him, the pair turn Lisette to stone. Meanwhile, Lyra’s friends are in trouble; Gan
has been captured by a twisted child who is torturing him by forcing him to walk while the
child breaks his bones one by one [the Authors seem to be obsessed with this trick] until the
child himself collapses.
Aeric and Kaila use Korra’s dragon to reach Kaila’s world, where the mage who
placed the curse on her, Andrei, is searching for her— he has guessed her plans. Aeric puts
shields on Kaila, who promptly tries to knock him out so he won’t be in danger. The ploy
fails; worse, the pair (with frequent embarrassed-author-protests) become distracted and,
finally, give in to hormones. Between getting ready to go after Andrei and having heart-toheart talks, they fill up the volume.
The Keeper [picture by Ellen] continues to toy with her “pets”. Tired of waiting for
Friedrich’s transformation, she teleports to his position astride a suitably magical mount and
pretends to be kin. She whisks him, Chaiais, and Cherissa to the ruins of Amryth and the
Spiral Well. Threar, who has been disguised as a black firelizard and riding with Chaiais for
half the volume, charms Cherissa with his suave manner, distracting a concerned Chaiais just
as Friedrich tumbles into the Well. Drowning, he is told by his mother’s ghost that he is a
soul reincarnated many times (hence his multiple personalities) who now is to be transformed
into a Unicorn. Chaiais runs down the spiral steps into the huge Well to draw the boy out of
the water, and, because of the special bond she has with the Unicorn, aids in his
metamorphosis [watercolor, “Spiral Well”, of Chaiais holding him just as he turns into a foal,
by Carey]. He just has time to claim his name, airephon, and become aware before the
Keeper takes him, and Cherissa, for her Rare Animals Collection.
She comes back to find chaos. Sevin has tried to ease Delva’s pain, brought on by the
conflicting voices in her head. Sevin realized his own madness is being exascerbated by the
contact, and orders her to stop him before his magic warps the space around them. Delva lets
fly a lightning bolt that knocks him out, and, with no one to help block the voices in her head,
lapses into a coma. Merra, Ælthon and the magus arrive to rescue Delva, and Korra (who had
just caught up with Brialla when the girl tells her, reluctantly, she is needed) comes after
Sevin. Sir Ælthon tries to heal Delva, but she fights him. It’s at this point the Keeper returns,
Cherissa and Xairephon in tow. Cherissa panics and starts burning things— Samaietyn the
gargoyle shows up to toast marshmallows— until the Keeper casts a stasis spell on all of
them. She orders Xairephon to heal Sevin so that her collection won’t be damaged, but the
unicorn defies her, finally trapping her in a logic puzzle. For she is an android, magically
constructed to preserve and protect rare beings; Xairephon says she should cease her
activities, because the program is flawed: she is as rare as any of her collection, thus worthy
of preservation, yet her programming continually forces her into dangerous situations in order
to collect specimens. Confused, the android departs, and Xairephon and Ælthon sets about
healing the injured. Delva is taken away by the magus and his cats, who take both to Brecca;
later, the magus (Eresin is visited by his mistress, the cat-goddess Bast. Sevin, healed by the
Unicorn, has had his power burned from him and is a changed man— he reclaimshis
birthname, Sialen. [portrait of him and Korra] Threar, changing to look like Michael Praed
73
by popular demand, teleports everyone back to Elsinore, picking up an anxious Chaiais.
Talley and Tolley play with Ælthon and try to seduce Threar unsuccessfully. Threar then
invites an innocent Cherissa to his Wishworld, and Xairephon and Chaiais do not intervene in
time. Threar, of course, plots to gain control of Cherissa as he once did Chaiais. Threar
entertains the girl in a courtly fashion until he catches her off-guard and puts her to sleep.
Other loose ends: After Lorelie is healed, Orn finds the Fool alone in the garden,
playing uncharacteristically melencholy songs. He gives away the fact that his Fool’s act is
nothing more than a mask to hide loneliness, and that [the soap opera continueth] he’s rather
in love with her. Orn, flattered but startled, bids him goodnight and goes to consult with her
Sisters. Jenn Lin includes a panel depicting Kyrie in her new transcendental form. And
Brialla is amused by Tryta and Gallea, who playfully drop in and start pelting the horses with
acorns, until Kithyra’s horse bucks her into a tree. The tree’s dryad scolds the twins and sends
them back to Yardan (who lectures them in suitable fashion), then reassures Brialla that her
mother will be all right. Briar takes charge of the camp, reminding the ubiqitous flunkies to
cut no live wood.
Kithyra, having a nasty surprise
ÍÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÏ
Epilogue: Passing the Rattle
74
My dear Christy,
January 11, 1993
I hope all is well (and that I have spelled your name correctly!) I look forward to seeing you
and all our good company returning to bring life and light to our second home. Heather,
Keridwen and I will be waiting.
Before you return, I urge you consider well the following, something which has long
been in my mind. I think— nay, I know, for several of our friends have made the suggestion
quite on their own— that all would be glad to have you as Royal Knight. You have those
vital qualities: affability and adaptability, creativity and — trust me in this— charisma.
People like you and your ideas, and find it easy and natural to work with you. You listen
well, and make suggestions in a helpful, but never forceful manner. And as for your ability to
write, well, it is pure Elsinore.
I would have spoken of this before, except that, after your entry concerning your
feelings on leadership, I feared lest you would feel pressured. Yet your words only convinced
me the more of your capacity to undertake the role. You expressed exactly the same selfdoubt as myself, Jennifer, and the illustrious Lady K professed to have when we first
assumed the title. On the other hand, it was the very overconfidence of those such as ___ and
_____ who have informed me at various times that they would make excellent Royal
Knights, that would make it difficult for them to work well in the role. The Royal Knight’s
duties, outside of fiction, call for her to take the passive role of mediator, helping only to
keep the story running smoothly. The procuring, preparing, and archiving of volumes can
and should be done by several different people; the Royal Knight should be able to delegate
and not merely dictate.
I expect you are doubtful still; it took months for me to feel confident in my position.
Remember, if you ever read C.S. Lewis’ The Magician's Nephew, how Aslan tested the
king-to-be of Narnia, asking if he would rule justly and fairly, lead every charge, and be the
last in every retreat. Frank truthfully replied that he hoped so, but that he would not know
until he'd tried.
Nor can you be sure until you've tried that you can be RKR VII. It is certainly not
something you should do unless you want to, for it takes enthusiasm to keep on top of the
story, keep the creative juices flowing. But I know you have the makings of a good Royal
Knight, one who could subtly change and guide and inspire Elsinore in the years to come. So
think about it. If you choose to take on the responsibility, I know everyone will be glad to
help.
Wind to your wings, my friend.
Love,
Ellen
Elsinore Ballad for Christy: click here to hear!
75
ÍÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÎÏ
So ends my long-winded account of Elsinore before and during my happy stay there.
May she long endure and afford many others the joy she gave me, so that someone else may
pick up the account here where I leave off! With luck, she will evolve and thrive, enchant
and amuse, for many years to come.
By my hand and seal,
76
Appendix: Advice to Christy and Other Future Royal Knights
Since Royal Knights (myself included) seem to run out of time just when they're leaving, and their successors
usually feel lost for a bit, here are some guidelines if you need 'em. Good luck, and DON'T PANIC!
1) DELEGATE. If people are accustomed to helping with the map, Royal Decree, Frontispiece, credits, etc., all
these won't go to pot your senior year when you suddenly don't have enough time. "Leader" does NOT mean
"does all the work". Let the RKR be a figurehead and contact person as much as possible; Elsinore is a
communal effort.
2) PREPARE the diaries ahead of time. If the Frontispiece and map are unfinished, that's a shame, but the
important thing is the ROYAL DECREE needs to be there for all to see and follow. It's not hard to find people
to copy in the Decree (and asking for volunteers helps remind people of its existence). The hard part is finding
artists who will prepare diaries before they're needed; frontispieces can be very elaborate and are damned hard
to finish once people are using the volume... and only the real fanatics will go back and do them after the volume
is full and put aside.
3) GET ELSINORE BUDGETED UNDER SGA at the beginning of each semester, and BUY plenty of volumes
in advance. They cost almost $16 last time I got them at Haverford's Bookstore, brand calling them "Classic
Sketchbooks". Other kinds may feather fountain pen ink a bit or bleed through, as you will note in the Dec. 7,
1989 volume. Strathmore makes a good one, too, and can be gotten from Merion Art & Repro as a last resort,
but they've recently started embossing the covers with a silver thistle logo. I used to budget for about 5 volumes
a semester, but it's slowed to a more reasonable pace lately. Still, a new crop of frosh may erupt, so I'd budget
for about 4 the first semester, until you know how fast they're going. Having extras is never a problem. But it
costs too much to try and get them later, which is why I signed Elsinore up for budgeting in the first place.
4) FOLLOW THE ROYAL DECREE, especially the rule about character manipulation. Even writing
something like "my character listened as Angela's began to speak" may cause problems, if Angela wanted her
character to use telepathy, etc. Most authors won't be that put out if you slip, but some will be resentful, and it's
best just to follow that rule to the letter. I've seen too many misunderstandings develop when that rule is bent.
Another, less obvious corollary to that rule, is: beware of very powerful characters. It is difficult to
make them work in Elsinore. They overpower all the weaker characters and short out all their plots and
conflicts, because it is too easy for the really powerful ones to bop in and fix everything. Sometimes neardivinities work: Merra was so Zen, so tuned to everything she didn't always help with the little things, and
Korvax, ostensibly evil, didn't always give a damn- if the Royal Knight was in a life-or-death sitution, oh well.
New writers tend to go for the really all powerful types, but it's actually the hardest kind of character to write
without stepping on everyone's toes. And if all the characters were godlike, a lot of the flavor, the variety of
Elsinore's denizens would be lost.
5) ARCHIVE the old volumes. Seven were lost; we don't want any more missing. You might leave the current
one with a trusted Elsinore writer living at Bryn Mawr over the summer, so that people visiting could still write.
But at this point (though the seniors when I was a frosh were adamently against it, since half of them lived
nearby and would write in it during the summer) I'd advise even archiving the Erdman Backsmoker Diary, rather
than hiding it in the desk or the bookshelves, because even if no one steals it, furniture in that place tends to
migrate.
6) TRUST YOUR JUDGEMENT. I made it up as I went along, and so will you. Either someone who knew
what they were doing as Royal Knight picked you, and probably had a good enough idea of the job to know
you'd do well, or you know your predecessor wasn't so good, in which case you already have an idea what NOT
to do. (That isn't worded well, but you know what I mean). Besides, each group of writers will be different, and
Elsinore changes, so don't try to be like your predecessor. Some writers want more leadership; others do just
fine without; you will be the best judge of that. For the real job of RKR doesn't have anything to do with
fantasy, knighthood, rank, or authority; it's learning how to mediate between the writers.
The only time you really need to step in is if people complain there's not enough going on; at that point,
invent a Quest, a conflict, that everyone can participate in if they feel like it (make sure, if it involves the castle,
all the writers are agreeable to it). Try to invent adversaries such that writers can chose to write individual foes;
go back and read the Siege, or the battle with the spider-people (vol III, Book II) to see how it's been done
77
before. And by all means, encourage other writers to invent quests and situations that invite characters to join in
and interact.
7) HAVE FUN!!! RELAX!!! Elsinore is for fun- never let yourself, or any writers, lose sight of that. The
moment it's a chore, a source of contention between friends, a substitute for real life, pull back. Elsinore cannot
endure forever; it would be a crime to preserve her for tradition's sake after the life has gone out of her. (That's
what memories are for).
As long as the writers are enjoying themselves, the magic will continue.
78
Index
“a hankerin’ for some pine cones”, 47
“A Rain of Terriers/It’s raining cats and dogs,
folks!”, 61
“Ack-Qu!”, 76
“Ballad of Ælthon and Kithyra”, 72
“chocolate, macademia nuts, slim-hipped men”,
14
“Damn, it was a new tunic too”, 52
“Diet Caffeine Free Cherry Korvax”, 61
“I expected someone coming in a puff of smoke,
much more mysterious and drier”, 21
“Feet first, it’s the only way”, 74
“Greyfuzzythingflambé”, 56
“Hey Merra, wanna sniff?”, 53
“I am & always have been... your friend”, 9
“I could've had a d8!’), 38
“I tell you she’s dead!” “’Course she is. She’s a
corpse.”, 76
“I will not have it so”, 28
“It pleases me to see that you are well, my lady
Queen”, 50
“Kiss me, I’m Korvette”, 70
“My virgin ears are burning...!”, 71
“nightshade, bad, do not use”, 60
“Pound.. pound... pound”, 74
“Thanks for marrying... I mean, warning me,”,
58
“This is a dragon.”/ “A what?” /“A dragon”, 45
“Trust me, I’m a goddess”, 34
“Wah fey dah suh nee boh kuh”, 50
“Who took my fishnets!”, 72
“Will that be for here or to go, Ma’am?”, 58
“You should trust your eyes”, 40
“You were expecting a duck, maybe?”, 65
acorn, 19
Acyrr, 13, 14
Adain, 51, 53, 54, 61
Adrian, 18, 21, 24, 25, 39, 48, 50-54, 60, 72-77
Ælthon’s mother, 65, 72
Ælthon, Sir, 58, 59, 61-65, 69-73, 78
Aere (Gemini, Elspeth’s twin), 11
Aeric, 68, 73-78
Aerté, 18, 20
Alalakh of Marâ’zeth, 18, 21
Alasdair, 34
Aledra, 53
Aleth, 16
Alexander, 59, 60, 75
alignment, 48
Allin, Sue, (Yrti) 5, 7, 10
Allison Fisk (Fish), 3, 4, 15- 25, 28-35, 48, 72,
73
Alosha, 58
Alouette, 7, 9
Alvath, 15
Amalaine, Lady, 51, 52, 60
Amari, 32, 35, 41, 49, 51- 53, 57
Amari’s dragons, 33, 35
Amryth, 4, 11, 12, 15, 17, 18, 40, 68, 75, 78
Amy Learmonth, 55, 57, 65
Amy Sunshine, 16
Anderson, Steve, 54, 55, 58
Andoris, 20, 28, 32
Andrei, 78
android, 79
Angela Giddings, 20, 30, 33, 35, 45- 47, 55, 67
et passim
Annals of Elsinore, 10
Annemarie Shuetz, 5, 12, 13
Antareth, 15, 16, 64, 77, 78
aphrodisiac, 28, 29
Apollonia, 12
Archives, 2
Arden the Fair, 5
Ardmore, 17
Arghent, 15, 19
Arielle, 58, 60, 65, 68
Armee, 52, 53
Arnold, Holly, 18
Arrow, 35-40, 44, 46, 54, 72, 76, 77
Arynn, 12, 14
Ascerby, 14
79
Ash, 73
Ashern, 12, 13
Asr Clhain, 50, 51, 60
atomic bomb, 8
Atri, 32, 33, 36-40, 47, 50, 51, 53, 57, 61, 69
Atri’s death, 51
Atyra, Lady, 16
Aurora, Lady, 7
Avalon, 16
Baal, 14
Baldwin of Gummery, Sir, 7
Ball, 15- 16
Ballad of Rose the Valorious, 13
The Ballroom, 12, 28
Banquets, 34, 37, 63, 64
Bard of Elsinore, 7
Bast, 79
Batman, RKR’s, 40
Beatrice, 15, 23, 28-34, 36-40, 42, 44, 47, 52,
54-55
Bedivere, 7
Beggarqueen, 12
Bekta, 15, 19-33, 36-39, 43-45, 48, 50-51, 54,
72, 75, 78
Beltane, 8
Bendon Weyr, 10
Bettle, Melissa (now Sabrah n’Hraven), 25, 33,
36
Bewitched, 38, 44, 49, 51
bimbette in pink, 78
The Black Queen, 57, 58, 59, 61
Blackfire the dragon, 35, 41, 51, 53, 64
the blue monk, 74
Bob’s Bay, 12
The Body Swap, 60, 62
bone dragon, 49
Brand, 37, 42, 43, 45, 47, 49, 50
Brandon, 42, 45, 51- 57, 60, 62-64, 66, 72
Brecca, Healer, 60, 62- 65, 68, 70, 73, 75-77, 79
Brendan, Lady, 15, 16, 19-24, 28- 32, 42, 48-52,
57-63, 65
Brialla (Briar, Kithyra’s daughter), 73, 75, 78,
79
Brian, apprentice Healer, 42, 44, 47, 55, 57, 58
Brundige, Ellen, 20, 21, 24, 30, 32, 33, 67, et
passim
Bryn Mawr VAX, 63
Burfin Lightfinger the kender, 40
Camarchen, 38, 57
Campbell, Tammy, 2, 4, 5, 9, 18
Carden, 16
Carey Herz, 55, 60, 61 et passim
Carla Levy, 33, 38, 61
Carlton, Abigail, 13, 77
Castle Erdman, 4
Castrated Boys’ Choir, 62
Cat, 14, 19, 21, 24, 39
Cathgar, 78
Cedric the Mastersmith, 40, 42, 44, 55, 67
Celtic Knotwork Ducks, 67
Chaiais DuRee, 55- 64, 68, 70, 73-75, 78
Charis, Sir Ælthon’s niece, 69
Charle, 74
Chatal Huyok, 20, 23
Cherissa, 55-65, 67, 68, 70, 72-79
chess, 24, 57, 64, 73, 74
Christie Stern, 55
Christopher, 14
Chronicles of St. Jeralte, 36, 44, 48, 50
Circle, The, 46, 47, 52, 65, 77, 78
Claiming the Unicorn, 64, 68, 70
clay dragon, 17
Cliffs of Frozen Water, 4
Cliffs of Ice, 4
Corellon, 61, 65, 70
Corinna, 49-59, 74
corpse, 73, 76
Corrie, 74, 75, 77
cow, 14
Cup of Crimson, 8
Cup of Elsinore, 56
Cuteness Contest, 68
D&D, 46, 65
Daeria, 68, 70, 76
Dale, 46-52
Dame Mary, 11
Dame Ranji, 5, 7, 10, 11
Damoris, Lady 64, 72
80
Daone Sidhe, 60
Dark Queen, 6
Death, Lord , 75
Debbie Van Newkirk, 10
Del' Astrid, 39
Delbaith, 39, 40, 52, 54, 55
Delva Half-Dragon, 53, 71, 73, 76-78
Delvian Mountains, 12, 36, 39
Demian, Melissa, 15, 17, 20, 21, 33
Demizdhor, 5, 11, 12, 14
demon, 19, 39, 43, 44, 47, 48, 50, 71
Demon Hounds, 19
demon in the corner, 60
Denbigh, 62
Denullan Mountain Range, 4
Derayn, 12, 15, 17, 18, 23-28, 32, 36, 37, 39, 44,
47-54, 60, 72, 75, 77
Derry, 64
“Discrete Variations on Magic”, 14
Dorn, Sherman, 10
Dorvant, 23, 45
Doublestar, 33, 63
Dougge the Slugge, 8
Douglas Ramsey, 14
Dr. Bombay, 44
Dragonlance , 47, 53
Dragonscales, 34, 35
Dream (from the Sandman Series), 77
Dream Lords, 7
drow, 65
Duchess of Antareth, 16
Duchess Sirady, 64
duck, 63, 65- 70, 72, 74, 76, 77
Duck Sex, 71
Duckmeister, 65
Duque de Alba, 66
Dur-Ashûr, 4, 15, 16
Earrike, 18
Ehecatl, 19-25, 28, 30-34, 36-39, 42-45, 47, 48,
50, 51, 54, 60, 72, 74, 76-78
Ehlanor, Seeress of Antareth, 18, 25
Ehren, Lord, 64, 68, 70
Eisterneith, 4, 7
Ëlathe, 18, 28, 36
Electra, Lady, 55, 58, 61, 63, 64, 71, 72
Elfquest , 38, 56
Elise, 6, 75
Elizabeth Griffeth, 10
Elizabeth Scott-Janda, 4, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 21
Elizabeth the barmaid, 61
Ellen Brundige, 20, 21, 24, 30, 32, 33, 67, et
passim
Ellis Avery, 15, 17, 20, 25, 33
Ellyrs, 15
Elohim, 17, 18, 23, 44
Elphera(n), 4, 5, 70
Elsinore, 4, 12, 24 et passim
Elsinore 3000, 45
Elsinore Nature Walk, 2
Elsinore time, 44, 54, 72
Elspeth, 5, 6, 8, 11, 16, 37, 38, 51, 56, 57, et
passim
Endora, 38-42, 45, 50- 52
Erdman, 5
Eremetic Archer, 74
Eresin,(the magus in black) 79
Eriel, 75
Eriend, 75,-77
Espoira, 12, 14, 16, 18, 21
esquire, anonymous, 9
Esther and Louis, 56, 60
Evelyn, Sir, 7
faerie dragon, 32, 66
faerie grandmother, 72
Farlahad, 51-53
Farrelly, Kelly Ann, 2, 13, 14, 17, 19, 21, 33, 39,
48
Fayr D’Amour, Prince, 15, 19, 20, 22, 25, 28,
30, 32, 38, 43, 57, 62
Feast of Elsinore, 8
Featherass, 32
Felicia Sampson, 6
Ferret, 54
Fex, Lord, 5, 8
Firebrand, 72
Fish (Allison Fisk), 3, 4, 15- 25, 28-35, 48, 72,
73
flesh-to-plush spell, 52
81
Food Fight, 60
the Fool (Arion), 68, 79
the Fool’s master, 41
Fortensius, Sir, 64, 67- 76
Francis the horse, 12, 16
Frazier, 42, 44, 59
Freeman, Jennifer, 64, 74
fried tomatoes, 13
Friedrich, 40-50, 56, 62, 65- 77
Friedrich’s transformation, 78
Gaea, 54, 61, 63
Gaius, 32
Gallea, 76, 77, 79
Gameth, 15, 30, 31
Gan, 46, 47, 50, 51, 52
Heather Garrett—changed last name to
Gardener, 21-24, 30-33, 38-40, 45, 47, 51, 72
Gavin, 76
Gawaine, 18
Gemini (Elspeth’s twin), 7, 11
Giddings, Angela, 20, 30, 33, 35, 45- 47, 55, 67
et passim
Glasya, Demoness, 19, 38-48
Gnarled Old Man (G.O.M.), 31, 54, 55
Goddess of Klimia, (Squiffy) 24, 30, 34, 37, 43,
52, 61, 62, 65
Goellner, Stephanie, 55
Gore, 7
Graffitti, 9
Great Glacier, 4
Great Hall, 15
Great Labial Forest, 4, 8
Griffeth, Elizabeth, 10
Grisnakh, 39, 42, 43, 45, 48
Guardian Angel of Elsinore, 5, 8
Gu∂run, 39, 47
Gwyneth, 14
Gynseth, 16, 64, 72
Halaf, 15, 16, 18, 21
Halle, 5, 8
Hansen, Kirsten Signe, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10
hawk, 18-25, 30, 36, 44,
Hawk/Vetris 56-63, 70
Healdsadhart, 72
Healers’ Quarters, 23, 47, 57, 68, 73 et passim
Heather Garrett—changed last name to
Gardener, 21-24, 30-33, 38-40, 45, 47, 51, 72
Helman, Rhonda, 2, 12
hemlocks, 29
Henry, 14, 19
Herz,Carey, 55, 60, 61 et passim
Hiatus, The, 72
High Table, 42
Highlander, 59, 73
Holle, 5
Holly Arnold, 18
homophobia, 49
horse-tribes, 15
Huextli (Ehecatl w/ amnesia), 47, 48, 50, 51, 72
Hyacinth, 8
Ilhume Forest, 4, 5, 12
Indiana Jones, 14
Ingrid, 17, 18, 24, 25, 33
Iowa, 15, 32
Iriben, 16, 22
Iris, 12-14, 17, 18, 22
Isis, 8
It, 22, 29, 34, 40, 47
Itael, 10
Ittraken, 36, 39, 44, 49
Ivy of Withollowmimon, Lady, 4, 6, 7, 10
Jack, (Sir Fortensius) 34, 38, 40, 41, 44, 51, 5666
Jackal, 8
Jair, 51, 59
Jamie Jeeves, 18
Jason of the Argo, 10
Jenn Lin, 12-16, 18-23, 32, 42, 51, 65, 79
Jennifer Freeman, 64, 74
Jennifern, 14-18, 22, 56
Jeralte, 15, 17, 18, 20-25, 28, 30, 36, 43, 75
Jerrin, 64
Jethro Tull, 8
Jim, 9
Jinnet, 15-18, 20-25, 32, 34, 37, 38, 40
Joan Milstead, 55, 56, 61
Joe Cooke, 10
Julian, 68, 76
82
Julie Miyashiro, 12-17, 22, 33, 56
Kafadje, 23
K, Lady, 4, 5, 7, 9, 11-16, 19, 20
Kaila, 65-68, 71- 78
Karen Schwartz, 8
Karl, Sir, 5-12
Karmath, 20, 73
Karrylla, 13
Kate Verleger, 74
Kayli, 45
Keener,Susan, 58
Keeper, 76-78
Kelf, (Kelly Ann Farrelly), 2, 13, 14, 17, 19, 21,
33, 39, 48
Kelner, 77
kender, 40
Khal, 20, 23-37, 44, 46, 50, 58, 65, 67, 70
K(h)asadi Kishofim, 13, 14, 17, 44
Kieran, 7
Kim Wigmore, 33, 38, 48, 51
Kimlethelsar, 4, 6
King Arthur play, 71
King Kalen, 5
Kingdom of Dorvant, 15
Kingdom of Sedora, 42
Kirlawath, 56, 58, 61, 65
Kirsten, 15, 23, 28, 42
Kithyra, 20-79
Kithyra’s office, 42
Kithyra’s parents, 37
Klimia, 20, 23, 24, 74- 76
Korra, 73-79
Korvax, 32, 35-53, 57-76
Krytharian, 60
Kyrie, 15-20, 25, 32, 51, 53, 54, 58, 79
Kyrsath, 12, 18, 19, 25, 66
Kyrvastae, 15
Laura, 17
Leaf Lake, 15
Learmonth, Amy, 55, 57, 65
Legend of Queen Elspeth and Sir Scorpión, 5, 38
Levy, Carla, 33, 38, 61
library, 11, 21, 32, 56, 62 et passim
lich, 41, 42, 45, 62
Lin, Jennifer, 12-16, 18-23, 32, 42, 51, 65, 79
Lisette, 77, 78
Litulet, 5
lizards, 14, 62
Loki, 14
Lolth, 65, 69, 70
Longshot, 14
Lorca, 40, 49, 54
Lorelie, 58, 60, 68, 76
Lost Volumes, 10, 11, 15, 16
Lothlanir, 12, 15, 74, 75, 77 et passim
Louis, 60, 62
Luke Skywalker, 14
Lundir, 47
Lynn Guest, 13, 44
Lyra, 21-25, 30-32, 36-55, 62, 65, 75, 77, 78
Lyssandra of Amryth, 18
Maggie, 10, 11, 51
magus in black (Eresin), 76-79
Mai, 73
Maladrienne, 9
Mandy, 61, 63
Marâ’zeth, 4, 15, 16
Margvar Bloodaxe, 13, 44
Marian, 58, 59, 61, 65, 68
Martha, Dame, 10, 11
Mary, Dame, 10, 11
Mary Rhoads, 42
Marya, 73
Master and Margarita , 10
Matsy, 21- 25, 28, 32, 36-41, 45, 50, 52, 53, 62,
65, 75, 77, 78
Maura Vallis —, 10
Maurice, 43, 44, 51, 52, 60
May Day, 51
Mazlek, 47
MCat, 7, 8
McCauley, Michelle, 12, 16, 19, 21
Mearas, 35
Mearia, 64
Melissa Bettle (now Sabrah n’Hraven), 25, 33,
36
Melissa Demian, 15, 17, 20, 21, 33
Mercedes Lackey, 36
83
Merra, 20-25, 30-53, 57-60, 62- 77
Merra and Korvax, 40, 68
Meyer,Robin, 58, 65, 77
Michael Praed, 79
Michelle McCauley, 12, 16, 19, 21
Milstead, Joan, 55, 56, 61
Mindfuck Scene, 32
Mirémdavar, 4, 6
Misha, 58, 59, 60, 61
mist, 23
Mistress of Chambermaids, 76
Mistress of Tasyn’ka, 23, 24, 31, 76, 77, 78
Mistress of Tasynka, 15, 19, 20, 21, 23, 24, 28,
30
Mistrin, 17
Miyashiro, Julie, 12-17, 22, 33, 56
Moon Rollosson, 5, 10
Moredred, 18
Morgaine, 16, 18
Morissa, 1Lady, 2
Mountain of the Phoenix, 4
Mulholland, Stephen, 73
Mushroom, 14, 15, 17, 18, 22, 29, 56
Myrdan, 16
Myriam, 77-79
Naturalistic Monks, 20, 22, 23, 25, 29, 36
Newkirk, Debbie Van, 10
Nian, 65, 67, 70
Nimari, 10
Ninja Nun, 13
Nissa, 10
Noney Mouse, 5, 10
Old Fran, 68
Ophed, Sir, 6, 8, 9
Organ of Neward, 48
Orn, 58, 60, 62, 63, 65, 76, 79
Orthax, 15, 17, 23, 24, 77
p’Elana etc., 13
Party from Hell, 10
Peer Xanthonie, 62
Pee Wee Herman, 13
Pern, 13
pie-fight, 40
pipes, 32, 44, 78
Pirate Towns, 39
Plains of Nur, 15, 19, 23, 39, 52
Podunkydink, 12
portal to the spirit world, 37
Prince Fayr D’Amour, 15, 19, 20, 22, 25, 28, 30,
32, 38, 43, 57, 62
Prince Rhys, 72, 75
Princess Bride, 73
Princess Nought, 5, 7, 9
psions, 70
Psychic Vampires, 68
puddle, 19, 21-23, 28, 29
Quackus Interruptus, 77
Quantum Duck, 65
Quest For Prince Fayr, 20
Quest to save the Delbaith, 39
Rahni (Viallae), 38, 40, 42, 43, 45
Raiders, 40, 53, 55, 56, 57
Raikath, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 44, 46, 49, 72, 76,
77
Raistlin, 47, 53
Ranji, Dame, 5, 7, 10, 11
ransom note, 57
Ravier, Sir, 5, 6
Relith, 13, 44
Rhannewynne, 72, 74, 75
Rhiannon, Lady, 5, 12, 13, 14, 16
Rhoads, Mary, 42
Rhodri, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 32, 34, 37, 38, 40
Rhonda Helman, 2, 12
Rhyal, Sir, 72
Rialla, 70, 71
Ricochet Rita, 14
River Wundel, 4
Robin Meyer, 58, 65, 77
Robin of Sherwood, 74
Rollosson, Moon, 5, 10
Romain, 64
Rose of Mundania, 12, 13, 41
Royal Decree, 4, 11
Royal Historian, 5, 6
Royal Knight, 5, 8, 12, 16, 19, 20 34, 37, 45
Royal Magician, 12
Rune, 14
84
Saard, 10
Saavedra, 36, 38, 44, 57
Sacred Groves of the Goddess, 4
Saint Lemming, 23
Samaietyn, 50, 51, 56, 58, 60, 72, 79
Samantha, 49, 50, 52, 63, 72
Sampson, Felicia, 6
Sara, 40, 42, 47, 55, 57, 58
Sir Scorpión, 2, 4-11, 17, 18
Scott-Janda, Elizabeth, 4, 10, 12, 13, 15, 16, 21
Seal of Elsinore, 2
Seek’n’Find, 21
Seeress, 25, 54
Selene Armestre, Lady, 76
Sentinals, 56, 57, 63, 65, 68, 74
Seredell, 6, 8
Serena, 38-45, 49, 50, 52, 57, 61, 63
Seryt, 18, 22
Seven Multicolered Balls, 31
severed head, 73
Sevin, 53, 54, 56, 58, 59, 61-64, 71, 73, 74, 7678
shadow, 21
Shadow Isle, 4, 11
Shadowmere, 5
Shalafi, 53
shay a' chern, 36
Shea, 14, 15, 16
Sherman Dorn, 10
Shin'tao, 33
Shuetz, Annemarie, 5, 12, 13
Sialen, 79
Siberia, 18
Siegfried, 10
Sieren, 38, 40, 42, 43, 45, 48-51
Signé Hansen, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 10
Sirady, Duchess, 16, 64
Sirea, 76
Sithkani, 12
Sithra, 15
Skye, 9
slavers, 47, 50
smurf, 18, 20, 29
snake, 21, 63
Sophias, 18
Spaird, 12, 15, 16, 18, 19, 20, 22, 29
Spavvin, 41
Spider Grandmother, 71
spider-like creatures, 58
Spiral Well, 78
Spock, 9, 13
Squiffy, (Goddess of Klimia) 24, 30, 34, 37, 43,
52, 61, 62, 65
Squirrel, 19, 21, 24, 39, 48
Stanmere, 15, 17
Star, The, 58, 59, 60, 68, 76
Starbucket, 33, 62
stencil, 15
Stephanie Goellner, 55
Stephen Mulholland, 73
Steve Anderson, 54, 55, 58
Stoneroot, 39, 54
Sue Allin, 5, 7, 10
sun-bird, 24, 37
Sunshine, Amy, 16
Susan Keener, 58
Swamps of Nûlg, 15, 41
Sword of Office, 67
Syrione, 60
Talley and Tolley, 22, 23, 25, 29, 30, 45, 50, 52,
60, 62, 72, 79
Tamara, Lady, 13-14, 17-22, 24, 25, 39, 48, 51,
54
Tammy Campbell, 2, 4, 5, 9, 18
Tanith Lee, 19, 36
Tanka, 30, 31, 39, 45, 52, 54, 61
Tardis, 11
Tarin, 70
Tasyn’ka, 25, 76-78
Tasyn’ka, Mistress of, 23, 24, 31, 76- 78
Tasynka, 15, 19-24, 28, 30
Tasynka, Mistress of, 15-30
Teryn of Asgard, 12-16, 18, 22, 23, 32
Tezcatlipoca, 54, 74
The Fool, 31-45, 49-51, 56-58, 62, 65, 76
the Fool’s master, 37
The Inn of the Rowan Tree, 63
The Princess Bride, 53
85
The Quest For Prince Fayr, 24
The Sandman, 77
Thea, 61, 62, 63
THEM, 58, 59
Thida Cornes, 14
Thoreau, 22
Threar, 55, 57, 59, 61, 62, 70, 78, 79
ticklefight, 67
Tillek, 41, 45, 47, 49, 50, 52, 65
Timayan, 74
time travel, 8, 36, 54
Tir Chlis, 15
Tlalochi, 31, 76, 78
Tomi, 45
Tristan, 72
Tryta, 62, 64, 76, 77, 79
Tully the druid, 32, 34, 38, 40
Twins, 53, 62, 64, 76, 77
unicorn, 11, 56, 70, 78, 79
Unicorn of Elsinore, 56, 63
Vale, 57
Valkyrie, 12
vampyres, 25
Vanderbean, 10
Vetris (see Hawk), 58, 70
Viallae, 38, 43, 48, 49, 50, 51, 59
Viviane of .Avalon, 73
Vres, 43, 48
W’istl of the Groves, 10
Walden Isle, 20, 36, 43, 48
Walt Pohl, 22, 29, 33, 34, 39, 40, 47
Wanderer, The, 10, 19, 76, 77
wedding of Ælthon & Kithyra, 72
Wendy Semsel, 17, 20, 22
Werewolf, 15, 37, 39
Wild Woods, 4
willow witch, 12
Wishworld, 79
Withollowmimon, 4, 6
wyldan, 38
Wyrdale, 15, 16, 22
Wyrdale
Wyrdan, 32, 34, 37, 41, 44, 45, 51, 56, 59, 6163, 67, 70, 72, 77
Xairephon, 79
Xanth, 62
Xanthalie, 15
Xelideh, 4
Xircon, 13, 16, 17, 21
Yalla, 76, 77
Yardan, 20-25, 28, 30, 32, 34, 37, 38, 44-54, 5762, 64, 65, 67, 70, 73, 79
Yardan’s coronation, 73, 75
Yarina, 55, 56, 58-61, 75
Yoda, 14
Yorlith Hornchurch ceiling, 41
Yrti, 7, 10, 24
zombie lepers, 72
86