I might be interested... only problem is I know less about " medieval France around the period of Charlemagne or one of his successors." then about say the Roman Empire...

I'm thinking at some sort of cat burglar (no, he's not stealing cats , that's what my dictionary call this kind of burglar who are an expert in entering houses by climbing walls and hiding in the shadows for not being caught) and pickpocket. The good thing about a cat burglar is he'll probably not kill anybody as his best weapon is not being seen or heard AND because of his 'profession' he'll most likely hear and see things not intended for outsiders.

[This message has been edited by PCDania (edited 10-08-2003 @ 04:10 PM).]

Thanks, PCD, for being our first respondent. We will research and post links to internet sites with historical information about the period we all agree will be the story's setting. As we have not yet decided upon a period, it is a little early to begin the research. As for Charlemagne, I too am not as familiar with his period as I am the Roman Empire and various BCE civilizations. I will have to educate myself alongside you if that is the period we choose.

I hope you won't mind the company.

It's a very nice period, Civis, with lots of things going on in our corner of the world. I'm going to try and commit myself to an other story.

I may even try and re-read Karel ende Elegast

Quoted from Jayhawk:

Hmmm. Famous chivalrous epic and a pillar of Dutch medieval literature. Set in the Charlemagne historical period. Unfortunately, unlike THE SONG OF ROLAND, I never read it. References on the internet are plentiful but mostly in Dutch. I can derive some meaning from the text by applying the little German that I know (with apologies to the Dutch for implying too strong a link between Dutch and German) but that's about it.

I think a setting during the period of Charlemagne will be fine. As soon as I can, I think I'll find a few links and post them here. Anyone with more time to look is welcome to beat me to the punch.

As to committing yourself to another story Jay: consider yourself always welcome. Too much time away and you just might get a little rusty, and we can't have that now can we?

Are you going to go with a new character?

We'll see, Civis, we'll see.
Depends on the story, I guess.

Actually you can probably get a long way with German reading that one, as it's the same language they spoke in Germany at that time: Diets.

Summary:

Signing On:

Civis Romanus
Jayhawk
PCDania (tentatively)

I'll join if its ok with you Civis. But is there anything I need to be good in, like history wise or something?

[This message has been edited by tedman333 (edited 10-22-2003 @ 10:43 PM).]

You forgot me Sire I posted in the last thread

Quoted from tedman333:

Just stick-to-it-tiveness.

Quoted from Lady Arcola:

Oooops!

Signing On:

Civis Romanus
Jayhawk
Lady Arcola
PCDania (tentatively)
tedman333

[This message has been edited by Civis Romanus (edited 10-23-2003 @ 03:13 PM).]

Hate being left out of a good story and the Charlemagneish theme I suggested. That is if that's the common ground we agree to of course.

Hi Micah.

Signing On:

Civis Romanus
Jayhawk
Lady Arcola
Micah Aragorn
PCDania (tentatively)
tedman333

We probably have enough writers to start. Without getting overly detailed, what do any of you think should be the very basic premise of the story?

Second question: What type of story? Adventure? Mystery? Humor? Romance? A combination? If a combination state the primary and secondary types, please.

Third Question: What type of character do you want as your "Personal" character?

Answer 1: I'll have to get some ideas.

Answer 2: I like adventure, but who says a combination isn't bad!

Answer 3: Depends on the story.

So all and all, I think we should come up with a story first before we decided charaters. If I have any ideas I be sure to let you know! *goes to think*

[This message has been edited by tedman333 (edited 10-24-2003 @ 03:37 PM).]

Seen this Civis?
Story Archive

Setting.
I think there are a couple possible settings we could pick.
Carolus Magnus spent a lot of time in Holland battling the Friesians (or rathe rhaving them battled). There's also, of course the fighting of the Arabs (as per Chanson de Rolande). Then there's the impact he had on the spread of the Christian faith.

As for characters, I think it's probably best to set the story as some of the older Arthurian tales, where Carolus provides a backdrop rather than the main character.

Possible themes could include but need not be limited to, the ubiquitous damsel in distress, the retrieval of relics of some saint or other from either the Frisians or the Arabs. Maybe something to do with Boniface who was killed 754 near Dokkum in Friesland.

I'm not quite sure about a personal character...but a certain angel may decide to make a cameo appearance.

Quoted from Jayhawk:

Not until you pointed it out. Nicely done. One correction, though, I need to point out to whoever put that very nicely done page together.

The story titled THE HORNS OF HATTIN in the story summary page is actually titled CRUSADE OF THE HEART. The link is correct.

So... Who exactly was it that did such a good job on the construction of the summaries and the page? I would like to thank them personally.

I haven't updated my knowledge of the "Charlemagne" period so I'm flying a little blind here. I would like to suggest that Charlemagne himself play a secondary or background role in the story, much like Saladin played in CRUSADE OF THE HEART. His "royal" presence is evident, but is not the focus of the story.

Secondly, I would like to suggest we avoid an arab/frankish confrontation, though appropriate to the period. I think, going by brute memory, that the arabs involved were Moors who came up from North Africa and Spain to confront Charlemagne's forces. We can include some Moorish activity, but I really would like to avoid the Islam/Christian confrontation aspects.

That leaves us with carrying on in a purely Frankish theme, assuming my suggestions are acceptable. The Boniface incident is interesting. I do not remember enough of it at the moment to make a suggestion. Somehow, having the story told from the point of view of a witness to his death seems intriguing. I will refer everyone back to a Citybuilding Story called BEYOND POSEIDON'S THRONE that has a similar perspective, with the story being told mostly from the point of view of a young thief. Though the thief was one of the primary characters, the story actually revolved around the interaction of a number of primary characters with major plot events affecting first one and then another and so forth.

Something that comes to mind is perhaps telling the story from the perspective of a very young novice monk who is having a personal conflict between religious and secular worlds. This might be a reversal of the "Cadfael" character who is a warrior turned monk. Our character might be a monk who feels compelled to turn warrior. The Boniface incident could be woven in to create some heightening of the conflict, if not the catalyst. There is a lot of room in this idea for adventure, theology and romance as the monk could be tempted from all sides mercilessly. It will be up to the team to decide which influence wins out and which characters do the influencing.

Now I think I'll read up on Boniface and see if any of my imaginings can bear ripe fruit.

Quote:

You're welcome.
The Horns of Hattin text came from the first post. I removed it completely.

As for the story, I agree staying away from the Moors, if only because it would make the setting too similar to the Crusade one.

Quoted from Jayhawk:

Then my thanks to you. Just as you said when you learned Lancer's true identity, I should have known as well. It's a great page. I truly appreciate your advocating and supporting stories in your piece of "Heaven".

Well, its off to write an episode in WEIGHTS AND MEASURES and then some boning up on Charlemagne and Boniface, time permitting.

Here is a rather comprehensive presentation of the life of St. Boniface.

Also, here is some information about Friesland

Quoted from Jayhawk:

Pepin was king when Boniface was killed. Charlemagne ascended the Frankish throne upon the death of Pepin about 7 years later. Boniface's relics were scattered in various locations (see link above for locations). The relic being sought could be of Boniface, stolen by recalcitrant Frisians. The campaign to find the relics could have been commissioned or launched by Charlemagne at Pepin's direction.

A frisian monk could return to Friesland as an undercover spy trying to find the location, hence the conflict between theology and secular worlds as the monk must behave as a secular person in a "heathen" culture.

Just ideas.

[This message has been edited by Civis Romanus (edited 11-03-2003 @ 07:55 PM).]

Does this help?

It certainly does, tedman.

Here's the church in Dokkum with the monument for Boniface.

Looking for feedback on my very basic plot suggestion...

Possible titles:

A RELIC IS MISSING
MONK'S JOURNEY
FRISIAN GAMBIT
BONIFACE'S ARM
A CALLING FROM AFAR

Anyone else have some suggestions?

Civis;
I don't want to intrude. I have been following this thread and topic with some interest. I am not sure if you want / need another helper / writer. But I would be willing to try if my limited talents were needed.
Later

TealWanderERII: Your involvement would not be an intrusion.

This forum group activity is open to all members. Feel free to come on board. All that we ask of those who sign on is to contribute something on a regular basis, even if it is once a week or so forth.

Shall I consider you a member of the writing team? If yes, what do you think of the suggestions so far?

Thanks Civis
If it is only a contribution of once a week or so please count me in...
I think the suggestion of a young monks quest to recover an artifact is a good one myself. And his crisis along the way both corpural and spiritual
I am thinking adventure / mystery would be the way to go.

Just as an aside, St. Boniface would be very interesting seeing as I was born in a Hospital dedicated to him.
Later

Please do join us on our quest, TealW.

Civis, I'm playing with the following idea.

We could be looking at a young monk working/living/monking in an abbey which is not very prosperous. We can have an old abbot who's either ill, or maybe losing his faith. The young monk decides to look for a relic that will restore the old man's faith/health.

The relic he wants is one to do with Boniface, I'm thinking of maybe trying to locate one of the bibles Boniface carried with him to Friesland.

It would involve him travelling North, past Nijmegen which used to be one of the main halls of Charlemange.

A possible abbey to start with is the Benedictine one at Stavelot, founded by St Remacle ca 648.

Brilliant link!