A Quest that begins in a Tavern...

[bellatrys]

...with a female Paladin disguised as a man, sent by the ghost of Merlin the magician, meeting up with a halfling Thief, both of them competing to rescue a mixed-race Warrior, who is also a descendant of Hector and Andromache of Troy (their son Astyanax was secretly saved and hidden from the Greeks along with Hector's sword, which is an Augmented

Comments

[furikku]

d) the sort of campaign I would love to be part of.

8D

[bellatrys]

I left out the bit where the halfling Rogue has a stolen Magic Ring (Invisibility and Dispell Enchantment) - wasn't sure if that would be a) too much of a reveal, b) too much of a wallbanger...

Re: 8D

[violaswamp]

...SERIOUSLY?

Yeah, it's actually Angelica's ring from the first book

[bellatrys]

which was never finished by the time of Boiardo's death, so Ariosto just made his own continuation in a similar style with much of the same canon, but adding new charas and plotlines, too. (There's apparently some controversial extra stuff that may or may not have been intended to be added in, which would have tied one of the villains and storylines he put in with the original "Song of Roland" conclusion, and may or may not have been finished, before Ariosto died - yeah, the similarities just keep stacking up, don't they?)

So anyway in Boiardo's story - you can read the first chapter for free online here - Angelica, the golden-haired princess of China and her brother Argalia (who's calling himself Umberto for reasons that don't make too much sense to me) show up out of nowhere accompanied by a bodyguard of giants, to the court of Charlemagne just like a scene out of Arthurian romance and challenge everyone to duel with Argalia for Angelica's hand. (We are not told if they are twins.) But this is all part of some cunning plot of the

also

[bellatrys]

Frankly the problem is that Ruggerio is just kind of *lacking* as a noble hero, no matter how much the Author tries to tell us he's All That, so I am kind of wanting to slash Angelica and Bradamante, future d'Estes be hanged, as *my* fixfic on the whole stupid plotline of Angelica obsessing for months over Bradamante's brother Rinaldo who was a total jerk until they both drank from magic anti-love potions which reverse whatever emotion you feel towards someone and now Rinaldo's the one obsessed with her and she can't stand him which is [part of] the critical backstory from OI.

...Did I mention the super-intelligent matchmaking horse that's trying to fix up Angelica and Rinaldo because Angelica used to try to get Rinaldo to like her by bringing prezzies to his horse? And the ghost of Argalia popping up out of a river to scold his killer, who is currently trying to fish his helmet out of said river after dropping it in by accident? And - I haven't gotten this far yet, but - another paladin rides the hippogryph on yet another side

Re: also

[violaswamp]

I am kind of wanting to slash Angelica and Bradamante, future d'Estes be hanged, as *my* fixfic on the whole stupid plotline

OMG you should do it! I love femslash fixfic. And, hey, she can have sex with the guy ONCE to make a future d'Este, and then never touch him again. Or use a period-equivalent of a turkey baster.

Heh, the awfulness of warfare in this unchivalrous age. I guess that's another version of Kids These Days, huh?

Re: Yeah, it's actually Angelica's ring from the first book

[violaswamp]

That sounds like some fascinating crack. Thanks for the summary!

The thing I love about it

[bellatrys]

is that Ariosto has all these heroes - *and* heroines - of different races and nationalities and heights all running around Europe, hanging out in inns, competing in sports events, going on quests, and nobody blinks. And nobody blinks at casual magic use, either - *anybody* may turn out to be a sorcerer with a book of spells in their pocket and the ability to summon up spirits just like that, or have some Augmented gear, or an Augmented mount. Even though it's supposed to be straight historical fic in a Christian setting :cough

Oh how I hate that claim

[violaswamp]

"Unrealistically PC!" Gah.

So many people seem to think "historically accurate" means "conforming to my ignorant preconceptions about the time period."

I seem to recall that Pratchett, after writing Monstrous Regiment (which I've yet to read), was besieged with letters telling him that this could NEVER HAPPEN. (As opposed to the stark realism of dwarves and trolls!) But Pratchett had actually gotten the idea from history, from the large #s of women who actually did ride off to battle.

And of course there's no reason to write a woman or minority character except to be "PC"...*headdesk* I hate stupid people.

Re: Oh how I hate that claim

[fridgepunk]

I've been reading Kate Adie's Corsets to Camoflage recently, and she's got all sorts of examples f women soldiers in periods when you'd think there weren't any - She tells this story (told to her by a serbian translator while she, her cameraman and the translator were hiding under a sink and hoping a passing serbian tank or mortar shell didn't knock a wall on top of them all and crush them to death) of a Vlora Sandee, the english daughter of an irish vicar who ended up gaining the rank of captain as a soldier in a serbian infantry regiment during ww1.

Also the little factoid about old sail navy vessels having washerwomen on board was illuminating.

Re: Oh how I hate that claim

[deiseach]

Just off the top of my head, two ballads from or about the Year of the French (1798):

from "The Boys of Wexford"

"In comes the captain's daughter,the captain of the Yeos,
Saying "Brave United Irishman, we'll ne'er again be foes.
A thousand pounds I'll give you and fly from home with thee,
And dress myself in man's attire and fight for liberty."

from "General Munroe"

"Then up came Munroe’s sister, she was all dressed in green,
With a sword by her side that was well-sharped and keen.
Giving three hearty cheers, away she did go
Saying, "I’ll have revenge for my brother Munroe."

It's uncountable the number of ballads about women disguising themselves as men and going to sea as sailors or joining the army to follow their lover or brother.

[ann_leckie]

e)a freaking awesome read, if handled right.