The Book of Battles

OUR STORY THUS FAR

 Map of Ossar

In The Book of the Blue House, we meet Conn Aragareth. Fleeing home and looking for adventure he comes to Kingsboro, the capital of Westrial, and joins his sister who is living in the Blue Temple, for in Kingsboro, great palaces and institutions take on Dependents, people who come to live their and joining their households, and so Conn makes his way into the life of the most unusual Blue Temple where the male priests serve their God through sexual encounters with other men and each other. In the midst of living here he meets Gabriel, Matteo, Quinton, Cal and most importantly Derek with whom he shares an irresistible bond. But the vocation of the Blue Temple is also linked to an ancient magic, an so he comes to know Ohean, called Akkrabeth, the mysterious mage who councils the king and is lover to Anson, his son, a mighty prince and general. While war comes to Westrial, Conn joins the order as a priest, knowing that one day Ohean will come and make a mage of him.

 

In The Book of the Blessed we delve deeper into the politics governing the continent of Ossar which is roughly divided into the ancient and black Royan and white Sendics who originated across the sea in Dayne. We meet Pol Kurusagan, the fun loving male prostitute and Austin Buwa, a crossdressing lord connected to the strict religion of the Zahem and their One Prophet. Ohean has returned from the Rheged to council king Anthal in his last days, as well as supporting Prince Anson. But Anson is not the heir to the throne. This falls to his older brother Cedd, and practioners of magic and members of the old faith especially the priests of the Blue House fear that his reign will endanger them. Ohean moves to make the transition as safe as possible and engineers a marriage between Prince Cedd and Isobel of Sussail, a secret witch of the Moving Isle. Meanwhile, as people gather for the death of the king, Ansons sisters, the Abbess Hilda and the merciless Queen Morgellyn come to Kingsboro along with Wolf, Ohean’s servant who is secretly hiding Lady Myrne who is trying to return to her family in Herreboro.  The death of Anthal and the full accession of Cedd as king of Westrial brings about Anson only half willing self imposed exile in which he escapes with Pol, Austin, our Blue Priests and the  Princess Imogen en tow who wishes to escape the fate of marriage to a loveless old man her brother Cedd had in store for her.

 

The Book of the Broken finds our companions traveling northwest into the Greenwood which borders Rheged and Chyr. There they encounter Pollanikar and Michael Flynn, the current incarnations of Robin Hood and Maid Marian and the priestess and high priest of the Green God. Having received visions and encountered wonders, the party splits up, Myrne and Wolf heading for Saint Clew’s Abbey where Anson’s sister is about to be made Abbess while Anson and Ohean head to Rheged to retrieve a lost sword and the blue priests head into Chyr to begin a new House.

            Meanwhile Morgellyn seeks to unite her daughter Linalla to the House of Sussail and is surprised to see that Anthony Pembroke has arrived at Raymond Cottage with a new squire, Teryn Wesley, hoping to make a similar alliance for Cedd. Morgellyn, sick and afraid of having more children and tired of the stupidity of her husband, Stephen, begins the long plan to steadily poison him, Meanwhile in Inglad, Queen Edith Baldwin and her brother Allyn to maintain power and make one of their family members Abbess of Saint Clew, attempts to have Hilda ravished, but the plot is foiled by Wolf, Myrne, Polly and Michael as well as Odo. Odo is abbot and a brother of Rufus, the new King of Daumany who is possible heir to the throne of Inglad and competition for the mighty Baldwin family. In the midst of all this, Wolf has declared himself the people of Saint Clew and to Odo as Osric Wulfstan, the true heir to Inglad and Hale. While Allyn Baldwin makes a marriage arrangement with Myrne to solidify the Baldwin hold on northern power, Odo sneaks Wolf out of Inglad altogether to be reunited with Myrne up north where they intend to declare themselves king and queen and begin a civil war with the Baldwins and, possibly, with Daumany.

 

In Rheged, Ohean reunites with his old lover, Ralph Curakin, but realizes the sword he gave him is actually the sword of destiny meant for Anson. Meanwhile, Imogen and King Idris fall in love and decide to marry, unwilling and unable to wait for word from Cedd in Westrial. Ohean, Anson, Pol and Austin are on their way to the Moving Isle in search of more answer as to what will come next, and Anson has rejected the path of making war against his brother to maintain power.

 

Meanwhile, in Chyr, Conn, Derek and their companions discover the pleasures of the House of Learning and the mysteries of old Chyr, and it is at this place that our fourth installment: THE BOOK OF BATTLES begins.  

 

 

Fun Facts

 

1. Michael Flynn is the Robin Hood of this world. His name is a combine of Michael Praed (Robin of Sherwood) and Errol Flynn.
2. Ossar is roughly shaped like Great Britain and the history of the Sendic Kingdoms is intentionally made to reflect Saxon history while the black kingdoms to the west, south and far north stand in place of traditionally Celtic lands, Chyr largely containing the shape if not the size of southern Wales.
3. The technological and geographic division between the Sendics and the Royan, however reflect the division between medieval Christian lands and the Muslim world, the mountainous divide especially reflecting the Pyrenees between Spain and France. Medieval historians remarked upon how shocked they were to cross into Spain with street lights, sanitation and medicine and then cross back into France and the rest of Europe.
4. It has been noted that the Daumans are reflective of the Normans, but the Baldwins of North Hale are a direct reflection of the Godwin family which ruled behind the throne of Edward the Confessor. Edward’s wife was, in fact, named Edith, though she does not seemed to have been quite the schemer our Edith is.
5. The One Faith, which largely resembles medieval Christianity from the outside, is largely Buddhism with a medieval Catholic church structure, the various nations and abbeys practicing differing forms of Buddhism touched by Hinduism.    
6. Hilda is based on Abbess Hilda of Whitby and Saint Clew on the double monastery which existed there in her day.
7. The attack on Hilda is inspired by a successful attempt by a high king od medieval Ireland to ravage and ruling powerful abbess and have her replaced with his cousin.