Healer's Inheritance- Chapter 5- Christmas Blessing

[pd16056]

Only my second post but I am a big fan.   The Jessa stories have been a great addition, the setting and the period are not covered elsewhere and given this is part of the dark days for Deryni in Gwynned it is always with a little foreboding that I start a new chapter.  In a good way of course!!

I did notice the clothing description and at the risk of extending the discussion have to say it reminded me of KK as she talks about clothes in quite some detail on occasion - Laurna you have to throw in "nubby silk" at some point though as an homage.

I have one question about inheriting titles in Gwynned for the group. Daughters aren't necessarily disinherited - Dukedom of Corwyn comes to mind where the title was held in abeyance for subsequent sons of a sole daughter - and the entailment rules are not clear to me. So is Sir Artemis' niece being superseded by her father's younger brother the more typical outcome? 

[Evie]

Welcome to the forum, Trisha!

In Gwynedd, I think inheritance can only pass through the female line if there are no male heirs to inherit.  For instance, in the case of Corwyn, Ahern was the heir to Corwyn when he died with no issue, and he had no brothers to inherit.  Neither did his late father (or, presumably, his paternal grandfather) have any brothers who lived long enough to inherit the title.  So the duchy passed to Alyce, Ahern's eldest sister, but only to be passed down to her firstborn male child.  I don't think she was ever Duchess of Corwyn in her own right. Similarly, when Kenneth married Alyce, he became Earl of Lendour by right of his wife.  The title passed through her, but the right to manage her lands went to her husband.

In little Sigheria's case, there are other male heirs whose claims would have taken precedence before hers, so I think the only way she'd be able to inherit is if those uncles (and any sons they might have) all died, leaving her as the remaining member of the bloodline to inherit.

[Laurna]

Laurna, you have to throw in "nubby silk" at some point though as an homage.

What a great idea, Trisha. Since I love adjectives it would be my honor to offer the description of "Nubby silk" to do homage toward our beloved KK. I had hoped that adding color would be seen as a KK tradition, and that it would uplift the spirit and bring joy to the reader.

Having said that for me the costume details here do serve a purpose - they convey the sense of lives transformed-

Thank you, Revanne. I did hope to show that there is hope to be found in the celebration of Christmas, after so many hardships had been survived. I will need to learn better word and paragraph management to show these feelings and visuals that I am asking the reader to experience.

In little Sigheria's case, there are other male heirs whose claims would have taken precedence before hers,

From my understanding of Gwynedd inheritance, Evie has it right. There must be no other male heir before a woman can pass her father's title down to a son. Alaric actually recieved the title of Duke of Corwyn from his great grandfather: his mother Alyce was heiress from her mother Stevana, who was heiress from Duke Stiofan. He was the last of the male line of House of Corwyn dieing in 1068 per the Codex.

I am sorry but I did take a little creative license with Evelyn and her daughter, Sigheria. According to the Codex, Sighere II, Earl of Eastmarch died in the first attacks by Imer II without issue. He had been the Earl of Eastmarch for ten years. From the dates in the Codex, I deduce that Seghere was likely in his thirty's when he died in battle. Therefore, it is easy to believe he had been married and had tried to create an heir for himself. Little Sigheria would have hardly been noticed during a hard won two year long battle. Younger brothers would taken the title of Earl instantly and never think twice about a baby girl's inheritance. And no one would have known Arty or Evelyn's true Deryni abilities. Their father would have made certain of that. In fact, I believe that only the closest of friends knew Evelyn and Arty were related.

[revanne]

I'd love to know what "nubbly" silk is. I imagine silk with little bobbly bits but it doesn't quite seem to fit somehow

[Evie]

I believe she is referring to slubbed silk, such as raw silk (aka silk noil) or any other sort of silk weave that has threads of varying thicknesses, giving it a hand spun look.  Actually, I just found this description of silk noil when I was looking it up to see if I was spelling it correctly:

From http://www.dharmatrading.com/fabric/silk/raw-silk-silk-noil-45-inch-and-55-inch-wide.html--"This fabric is also known as Silk Noil. It's a nubby fabric in a natural off-white color."

Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives this definition for nubby:  http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/nubby

The dark blue and tan homespun looking silk fabric that I used to make clothing for Mini-Briony and Mini-Grub would probably count as one type of nubby silk, though a silk shantung like the ones pictured below may also qualify.

[NavaWazr]

I like the clothing descriptions. I like reading about the details of how people lived as it helps me be in the story. I love reading about Jessa learning about her world, because it is me learning about her world. Thank you very much for writing!

That said, I look at the silks and velvets and worry about cleaning off all the dust and mud and water stains...

[Evie]

Fine silks and velvets would most likely be worn in a Court setting.  For clothing likely to get mud-stained, such as travel garb, any delicate fabrics would most likely either be packed away or else covered up by other layers of fabric that are easier to maintain, such as those riding leathers that KK often mentions, or else a sturdy cloak. 

Then again, mud spatters were a laundress' problem, not a nobleman's or noblewoman's, so some lords and ladies might be more careless of such things than others.