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In some ways the four characters are the old, generic, role-playing adventuring party: fighter, mage, thief, cleric, but then the complexities of truly round, as opposed to flat, characters are revealed. That is appropriate, for the Round Table of legend should not be attended by shallow personalities.
The quartet of knights the Chronicles revolve around relates to the Russian novel Brothers Karamazov. Unconsciously, I more or less copied the character dynamic with the four knights; Martain reflecting the soldier Dmitry, Elias resembling the ever pious Alexei (or Alyosha), Varnell being the scientist Ivan, and Shane being comparable to the unwanted bastard Smerdyakov, whose name translates to “son of the stinking” in Russian. Smerdyakov’s mother, Lizaveta, was more or less the village idiot, but she had perfect little feet in the eyes of Fyodor, the patriarch of the Karamazovs. Karamazov is related to the word for “black” in Russian. Growing up with a healthy expo- sure to Freudianism, that is to say, not overly psychoanalytic, but aware of its tenets, I thought of how characters in Arthurian legend mirrored fragments of the human psyche. If Merlin, Arthur, and Lancelot represent the id, superego, and ego, it is debatable which character should fill what role. To return to the Karamazov model, Smerdyakov might represent the id, but so might the soldier Dmitry. The murder trial of their mutual father, Fyodor Karamazov, could be considered the test to identify that very answer.
The once and current Queen of Camelot. She has come out of the nunnery after a period of spiritual regeneration to add stability to the leadership while a future alternative is being sought. She still gets criticized, some even from herself, for betraying King Arthur and laying with Lancelot.
Guinevere’s father was a great knight named Leon de Grance who was in competition for the throne before Arthur accidentally became the one to pull the sword from the stone. Arthur immediately became hopelessly enthralled with a woman, as his father did before him, and hastened to marry Guinevere despite the inauspicious warnings of the magician Merlin, who saw through his gift of prophecy that she would betray him.
In the chateaux to which she was indigenous,
The Queen heard of the exploits of Zorgar’s wolf pack,
“Hideous deeds…perfidious…ignominious…lascivious;
May his influence be deciduous,”
She said with clenched teeth and fists in her harsh wrath.
“An Earldom to the one who rids me of this
Pestilence grown far beyond insidious.”
Elias the priest king known as “the pious,” this monk like knight is stolid to the point of absurdity.
Christianity plays a central role in Arthurian legend, most notably in lore relating to the Holy Grail, the cup Jesus Christ drank from at The Last Supper: the genesis of what Christians commonly call communion, during which Christ’s last meal with his disciples is re-enacted. Britain has always embraced Christianity, presumably because of its extreme post-Roman poverty (there was very little coinage to be had), since Jesus stated, “blessed are the hungry” and “it is easier to pass through the eye of a needle than it is for a rich man to reach heaven.” One resource the island was rich in, however, was knowledge. There was no decline of learning, reading and writing continued at a high level uninterrupted by the total collapse of Roman rule in Britannia, and later on the Continent, where a dark age, devoid of surviving literature, ensued.
"Let us pray the great state may not fracture.
Simply inform me how to use the rigs,
And when I return, crack the tallest cask.
Lord Shane, do you fear so much death’s rapture?
I will be no swineherd who loses pigs.
Sailing alone shall cause a slighter draft.
I also need you all to guard the shore.”
They laughed, and a man who was chewing sprigs
Showed him port from starboard and right from aft,
As he readied for where death bars the door.
There has been a great deal of cultural and ethnic mixing in Europe, therefore it seemed natural for one of the characters to have some French blood. Norman kings, those hailing from the north of France, of the Plantagenet line, took control of the throne of England starting in 1066 at the Battle of Hastings, where William the Conqueror took advantage of a civil war between brothers competing for the throne. William introduced new methods of war, most notably mounted knight and the Bayley (or Rocca, in Italian, which name for the chess piece “rook” is derived from), which was hastily erected tower designed to station archers at an elevation, and to break up a cavalry charge. Even Elizabeth I and Mary Stuart were cousins through their Plantagenet consanguinity.
Martain thought he might have been excessive,
For the language he was using attached
Authority he could not institute.
Though there was no explicit directive
From the King, only improving the packs
Of cadets was discussed: to introduce
Them to warfare was what was requested;
And Martain thought himself given free rein;
Until he thought his neck was in the noose
For a speech that left his men dejected,
But none quit claiming some spine or knee pain.
Jalifax the aspiring warlord, former knight to Arthur, now aspiring warlord posing as friend to Camelot in the wilderness.
One need only look to Oliver Cromwell to see an example in English history of a man seduced by power to try to seize control. Some traitors, like Benedict Arnold, need a lovely Tory fiancée to seduce them into treachery further, but for most, the mere promise of promotion is enough to provoke betrayal. Jalifax believes he can take advantage of internal turmoil in order to merge at least a few pieces of Britannia under his rule, and make himself, if not another Arthur, at least comparable to his predecessor, the mighty king Vortigern.
I know where you were taught to thrust and parry,
We are not those from Homer eating lotus,
It is not ignorant simpletons you greet,
I understand why you have been wary,
But having this woman serve beer is bogus
Beyond limit, to the utmost extreme.
Once, long ago in one of Mordred’s lairs we
Discovered a garden of wild roses,
And the King took some of those to the Queen.”
Here he looked to Guinevere, as he stared he
Bowed, and the rest took up similar poses,
In the setting sun, with its fading beams.
Shanista, daughter of Jalifax and love interest to Martain. This is an audacious virago whose motives are not yet clear.
A beautiful woman of the forest, revealed to Martain by a prophetic dream, Shanista is the irresistible seductress that Camelot’s strongest sword arm cannot resist. She is lively, caustically witty, and far from cooperative with her self-confident suitor. To bask in the presence of Shanista’s pulchritude may come at too steep a price for even one of Camelot’s premier personages.
“Marriage is far from on my agenda,
At present, the subject is a crass thing.
My father’s crime was not a mere trifle.
This level of scandal can prevent a
Fast rise, mistakes can be that exacting,
They can make anyone suicidal.
At court I’d hear snorts and retorts when the
Tumult rings out from the fat and laughing
Ladies with rabies to whom I’m rival,
Suffering from their forceful dementia,
Indulging in their rapid cackling
Before they return to being idle.
Zorgar, the Viking raider, his longship has the 100 most murderous men to be found in Scandinavia, is a character from The Aftermath of the King
Zorgar is mainly inspired by Ghengis Khan, a consummate conqueror who insists on laying with the most beautiful women of every tribe, spawning a plethora of descendants. His band of sailors plague Camelot as well as the ports surrounding Europe. Zorgar is the most feared of Viking warlords and is causing so much damage to the realm that the Queen herself must lead an expedition to eradicate the menace.
Zorgar roared his challenge: "Come close if you dare."
Zorgar tensely stood, big as a bear,
And those near him vanished like vapor,
As all watched to see which would fall to the earth.
Zorgar strangled his ax as he waited,
Asking the god Oden for his favor,
As he had been taught to do from his birth.
Zorgar had many children, Zorgarius is the issue of a Roman woman, which I will try to connect to the woman Alaric took from Rome in AD 411, thus making him a semi-legitimate successor to imperial Rome, which Zorgarius hopes to use to essentially conquer the world. Well equipped and physically superlative, his armies with their Scandian and Germanian alliance have dominated Scythia, and now Gaul, displaying ambition to rule over continental Europe.
Chief Zorgarius was the devil’s prince. With no underling to leave his pride checked, He was advised by oleaginous, Slaveholder warlords who a treble rinse Would fail to cleanse; one would have their eyes pecked By crows who have grown wholly ravenous, Rather than be there when the metal clinked Of their chrome goblets to start their drive west.
When his army boarded to trek the sea
There were no meek cowards, nor neurotics;
The King penned the contract, and they cosigned.
Scandians concentrated at Cherbourg
To take Brest, and spread south the despotic
Grip of Zorgarius which imposed crime
Even the fascist states would not dare urge.
Cindia’s schemes were not diabolic,
She judged the secret agents she chose prime
Prospects in whom talents that were rare merged.
On a subject they supplied the object
Embedded with crucial information
Concerning the enemy’s prepared surge.
Varnell, the bard & apothecary, was a disciple of Merlin as a boy, this bard is part apothecary, part inventor and scientist. He is relied on for his knowledge.
Varnell the bard, musician and storyteller, becomes prominent following his mentor Merlin, the famous, quintessential, ostensibly disappearing. Varnell has working knowledge of astronomy and is well versed in Greco-Roman classical literature. The bard of Camelot is even inventive and industrious enough to craft a set of wings that he uses for scouting. Of the four most central knights of Camelot at the time of the outset of Camelot Chronicles, Varnell is the least open to romantic attachment.
And not by shooting arrows in lame harts
From tree stands covered in leaves and covert,
But donning wings produced by invention
So astute, not working off the same chart,
With cards up the sleeves of a gold shirt.
Daedalus, while in Cretan detention,
His brain, some say, with Hephaestus, changed parts;
And what he assembled with a bold smirk
Kept him in the air, held in suspension
Gliding forward, wary, lest the rains start.
Varnell flew over the scene, the cold hurt,
But with his mates he felt no dissension.
Shane, the archer, is a newly risen knight/archer is from the humble class of woodsmen, but due to his excellence is free to be upwardly mobile in the meritocracy that is Camelot. Guinevere throws a gem at him for slaying a man cheating in a duel with a well-placed arrow making him ostensibly rich.
Shane’s character is derived from the 100 Years War, during which England employed woodsmen newly risen to knights in their wars with France, who relied on an aristocratic order of comparatively soft warriors to compose and lead their armies. England was wildly successful, mainly as a result of their reliance on the English longbow, Shane’s favorite weapon, which could propel arrows forcefully enough to penetrate any armor of the time. The Battle of Crecy, for example, established firepower as the chief determining factor on the European battlefield, replacing the mounted knight. The English could even boast three primitive cannons in this 14th century battle, though the smoke from the weapons was more dangerous to their artillery personnel than to the enemy; arrows on the other hand, were set to fall in such abundance as to resemble a snowfall.
The Master of the Bow, all knew his name,
Always first to a laugh, last to a sneer.
As mother must that calf of hers remind
That no being eludes life’s ruthless pain,
The stalker crept in step, clapped by his ear
And left his new king on par with the blind.
An early advocate for Guinevere’s installment as Queen after King Arthur’s death, Barrick is a judge and statesman, he missed the last battle with Mordred because he was convalescing from an injury sustained by Lancelot over an insult. This is how he survived when almost all other knights besides Martain’s father, Sir Kay, were slain.
Sir Barrick is the the elder knight and chief councilor to the realm. He is a statesman of the Round Table and is looked to for guidance and wisdom. Even when monarchs change, the realm will still rely on Sir Barrick to light the way toward Justice and a prosperous peace.
The eldest, Sir Barrick, slowly stood,
Using his sizable sword as a crutch,
“Then we shall send some emissaries
Immediately to this Gregor’s wood,
They say it’s riddled with druids and fairies.
I recommend we send Martain the good,
And a few of his studious choosing,
But Varnell should be with them, for they could
Get lost, the way is very confusing.”
Belinda, friend of Guinevere, is a Noble lady and the leading choice to be the new King’s wife among members of Court. Guinevere seeks her out for clues on the disappearance of an important character.
This is the diva of noble ladies, always dramatic and haughty in the extreme, she is the women Camelot’s court wants the newly crowned King to wed. Aside from pedigree, she possesses outrageous beauty, royal education and is comfortable at the center of the stage. The King enjoys her company and is interested in her but does not want to feel that he has freely chosen his match.
Belinda, like the broach of a cloak, clasped
Queen Guinevere’s neck in camaraderie,
“While the chief invader in greed itches,
Our regal lion will leave his throat slashed
And we will spread our books and pottery,
They shall not try to scale our deep ditches.”
Jalifax and Shanista are the father and daughter who shall act as the guides to Guinevere and the traveling knights on their way to gather men and slay Zorgar.
Jalifax & Shanista are a father/daughter combination that is powerful on the outskirts of Camelot’s civilization, that is trying to re-emerge from a period of decline following King Arthur’s death. They present themselves as helpful friends, but sinister intentions lurk beneath the surface of their amicability.
She looked like the dream with which he was smitten.
“He is close, you could get there quicker with a horse,
I will show you the way to his domain
Once you are fed, rested, and the Sun has risen.
My name is Jalifax, the high seer,
This is my eldest daughter Shanista,
Feel free to keep your names hidden,
Though your tongues will be plied by my beer.”
Her name struck Martain like bolts from a ballista.
Camelot is a romanticized version of the island which the Romans referred to as Brittania, which has since been shortened to Britain; Albion is the more ancient term of “the island,” as it is known to its proud inhabitants, as opposed to “the Peninsula” (referring to the Iberian Peninsula- modern day Spain and Portugal), and the Continent (Europe). Brittania was a land of mythic proportions, possessing rich farmland and forests well populated with game, lacking in predators and poisonous serpents, though at times it was considered beyond the risks of conquering, partly because the expertise of the Roman Empire was infantry and ground armies, not navy and amphibious warfare.
Crossing the English Channel has always been riskier proposition than it seems, especially when a flotilla is carrying an army. Prudent Emperors such as Caesar Augustus thought it was to abstain from including the island in its litany of colonies, but more profligate and careless rulers such as Nero thought Britannia worth the trouble. Nero violently seized the island from Queen Boudica, who was unable to avenge the severely ill treatment she and her daughters suffered at the hands of Roman soldiers. English soldiers have never forgotten this affront, and it has been a point of national pride to resist invasion. Dartmoor Forest is one of the more legendary sites on an island teeming with ancient wonders dating back to the neolithic period. Fairies and other sorts of fantastic creatures are said to wander its paths in secret.
Buy & Download Book 3: The Battle Ballad of the Royal Knight the Book Series now on Paperback, Kindle, Nook and Audio book
A quick synopsis of the Legend of King Arthur
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