Favorite character(s), and why?

[Evie]

Sorry, not going to let you clean.  At least not till I've told you this.

That's just evil, Annie.  And I mean that in the nicest possible way.   

I'm glad Richeldis lived long enough to know most of her grandchildren, but sad she died fairly young. Though I suppose that's better than having her live to see Brion murdered and then Conall betray Kelson later on.

Re: Illann's abdication...now I'm wondering if there was some problem around the suitability of his second marriage which led to the abdication?  (I.e., did he abdicate for love, as happened in the case of King Edward VIII of England when he wanted to marry Wallis Simpson, and for some reason he couldn't have the woman and keep his throne as well?)  Though if that were the case, why not just have a morganatic marriage (I think that's the term?) and still designate his brother as heir, but retain the throne, as I think happened in at least one royal second marriage in England's history?  Though maybe, in that case, that was possible because the King already had heirs produced from his first marriage, so they didn't care if he remarried as long as his second family didn't muddle up the line of succession?

[Evie]

And now I'm belatedly wondering who would've been serving as young, unmarried King Brion's chatelaine whenever Richeldis was off in Llannedd.  Princess Xenia, perhaps?  Surely Richeldis would've deputized someone for the position, otherwise she'd hardly have gone off so frequently to serve in that capacity in a nephew's Court, if her own son's Court needed a female presence to take over those queenly duties before Brion had a Queen of his own to take on those responsibilities.  It would've been considered a good learning experience for Xenia, though, assuming she was old enough by then to take the responsibility on.  (I don't think Princess Silke would've been old enough yet, would she?)

[Evie]

Annie-girl (or someone else with the Codex), would you happen to know Saer de Traherne's age relative to Brion's and Nigel's?  Inquiring minds might have a need to know (has to do with a Meraude fanfic idea).  His exact title would also be helpful.  Thanks!

[AnnieUK]

Saer Sighere  Tirso de Traherne, Earl of Rhendall.  Born July 22 1093.  Eldest son and heir of Ewan III Earl of Rhendall and Mellicent Lady MacEwan.  Came to court in 1105 as squire to Richard of Carthmoor.  Succeeded his father Sept 19 1122.

And blast your eyes, Evie, that whole would Brendan call him papa thing has got me at it now!

[Evie]

No, no, you have to blame Alkari for that one.  I'm all for Brendan calling Alaric "Lord High Poobah."  At least I hope you're referring to Alaric.  If Brendan is going around calling Saer "papa", Richenda's got a whole lot of 'xplaining to do!   

(Just kidding, of course!   About the 'Lord High Poobah', anyway.  )

So, Saer is three years younger, not older, than Meraude?  Hm.  OK, the scene playing in my head won't quite work, then.  But never mind, I'm sure some variation on the theme will come to me eventually.

[wombat1138]

Illann's second marriage definitely wasn't morganatic-- the resulting daughter, Princess Gwenlian, is the presumptive heiress to Llannedd if her half-brother Colman never finds another bride to replace Janniver. If you recall from KKB, the planned marriage of Gwenlian to their cousin, Prince Cuan, would pre-emptively prevent the united kingdoms of Howicce and Llannedd from splitting up again due to different inheritance laws.

...though Gwenlian and Cuan still haven't gotten married as of 1130, if the omission of such info from Codex 2 is significant. I hope they're not waiting for Colman to drop dead first-- still no marriage listed for him either; he's 16 years older than Gwenlian, but she might still have her own problems securing the succession by the time Colman dies of old age. Caitrin of Meara must've had some serious ovarian juju to produce all three of Sicard's kids in her mid/late 40s.

[Evie]

Ooh yeaaah, that Gwenlian!

Caitrin's late fertility doesn't surprise me all that much, but then again, my grandmother was 50 (or very close to it) when my mother was born, and I don't think she fully went through menopause until several years after that.  And my mother showed no signs of being menopausal or close to it when she had a hysterectomy at 50.  And I'm 47....*checks to see if fertility time clock is set to go off yet*  So there's probably some genetic component.  Makes me wonder how many children Kelson and Sidana would've ended up with eventually, if she'd been married at 15 and fertile until 55 or 60.  

[Evie]

SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!    I got my Codex in the mail today!  SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!   

*ahem!*

OK, we shall now return to our regularly scheduled discussion. 

*attempts to look more dignified*

[Evie]

OK, I've written and posted that Nigel and Brion story I've been threatening, darn y'all!  It's called Man-Trap.  One guess as to who that title could be referring to.  (Hint:  It's NOT Meraude!)   

[AnnieUK]

Not quite as exciting, but I got my hardback copy of High Deryni in the post today.  DH : "But you've already read it."  Yes dear, and you have NO IDEA how many times. 

[derynifanatic64]

Camber is my favorite character.  He helped to end Festillic rule and to restore the Haldanes to power.  All the discoveries he made, as Alister Cullen, as bishop of Grecotha helped to restore some of the Deryni heritage after Festil I overthrew Ifor in 822.

I'm curious to learn how he figured out how Ariella failed with the death-defying spell at Iomaire in 905 and how he managed to succeed (to a certain degree) when he was struck down in 917.  Is he able to sometimes take physical form or whatever?  And how Evaine bolstered his spell by giving up her life.