@jeantown jean, how does the guen in your head looks like? I always imagine my guen being Elizabeth woodville from the white queen as well as arthur being edward
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@Illmaster He does, but it works differently for him. Heās not as cynical about people as Morgana is; sheās much slower to trust anyone, and therefore her fae-sense tends to augment her natural suspicion that most people are unreliable. (Unlike Morgana, Lancelot didnāt have the experience of being sold into an unwanted marriage at age 15.) His fae-sense is better at intuiting physical danger, and, to a limited extent, some future events. But itās just intuition, not real precognition or anything.
@Nikmou I actually try really hard not to picture Guen in any particular way if I can help it; when Iām imagining the scenes, sheās usually just a silhouette in my mind. But I looked up some pictures of Elizabeth Woodville in The White Queen, and I can certainly see how that would work! (such gorgeous costumes! ā I guess I should watch it sometime?) 
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@jeantown A forced marriage at only 15?! Ouch. Not to mention, Morgana kind of gave the impression that Lot wouldnāt have been quite as understanding about a wife not wanting to have sex with a total stranger as Arthur was (āLot had no interest in leaving me alone on our wedding night, I can tell you that!ā)ā¦yeah. Ouch. Poor Morgana. 
Her cynicism and constant concern about newly married Guen in Book I suddenly make a lot more sense.
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How old is Morgana now? (Sorry if you mentioned it in the story and I missed it.) I always imagined her as the oldest of the main characters, but thatās mostly because she already has 2 children and she generally seems like the most mature of the bunch.
But married at 15 can make you grow up fast (and have kids early)ā¦so now I just donāt know.
@buggygirl11 At the beginning of part 1, Morgana is 23, Lancelot is 20, and Arthur is 17. Gawain is 7 and Gareth is 5; Morgana has been married to Lot for eight years. She had Gawain when she was 16.
So for anyone who likes to imagine Morgana and Lancelot playing together as children: she was three years older, and very much the big sister. Sheās known Lancelot since he was baby. He was just barely 13 (and totally devastated) when she got sent off to marry Lot. Weāll get some more glimpses of that backstory as things progress.
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Moragana + Lance = 
(itās a pun)
Oh by the way, I just read this Arthurian-related book, The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. I highly recommend it to everyone here. It takes place a few decades after Arthurās death, and itās actually about some old couple, but the connections to Arthur become apparent in the second half. Itās an interesting take on Arthurās victory over the Saxons, and is also an excellent story on its own.
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@Mirabella Whatās it about? Looking at various reviews, I get only a vague sense of why I should actually want to read this.
Not saying thatās proof of it being bad, just - what makes this engaging?
Wow, I have absolutely no idea how this awesome WIP slipped past me. Despite being a work in progress this is already longer and more in depth than many finished products. The characters are incredibly well written and the fact that you allow our responses to include the reasons why we are saying/doing what we are is ingenious. A very large part of me wants to tell you to hurry the hell up so I can throw my money at you, but a larger part is saying take your time, Iād rather get this done well instead of fast.
I do have a few questions however. What does Morgana look like? Itās late so I might have skimmed over a passage detailing her appearance but I donāt think I did. Also, I was going to ask for her and Lanceās ages but given that that was answered a few posts ago I wont. I will ask (though I probably wont like the answer) how old is Lot?
One last question because now I find myself thinking about poor Morganaās wedding night. Is she attracted to men? Sheās obviously at the least bisexual what with her and Quenās ability to canoodle. (Sorry if this has been answered before)
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@jeantown Totally unrelated to Guen but I just noticed you referring to this Robin Hood āselect everyoneās genderā game (even though it was like two weeks ago) which does sound really awesome as someone who lives in Nottingham, and I would love to see that someday (so I can be amused and consider how awesome Joan Little and Sister Tuck are. Still trying to think what the male equal of Marion would be.)
You were also looking for suggestions for options for certain types of Guens earlier, I figured I would like to see more playful flirting with Arthur for Guen to do since she does like to fluster the poor fellow. And more BFF/Non Romantic stuff with Morgana and Lance. Also how much of an impact/change do you think the child either being Arthur or Lanceās (or no child at all) has on things? Can Arthur and Guen still have a happy ending without children? I know you wrote a while back on the number of endings which a Guen/Lance fan could look out for, so I would assume Guen and Arthur would get similar treatment.
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@Durxa Thank you; Iām glad you enjoyed it! It is indeed going to take years to finish this, but I agree that quality is worth the wait. Morgana is described as having black hair and dark eyes, and thatās about it. I try to keep the character description minimal because I want the reader to be able to imagine the characters however they like. Lot was just over 30 when he married Morgana (twice her age at the time; sigh), so heās almost 40 at the beginning of part 1. (btw the political background of why Morgana was married to Lot will be explained more in part 3.) Morgana is maybe like 80% attracted to women and 20% attracted to men. Thanks again for reading and for posting! (:
@derekmetaltron Aaaaaaaaah I will sooo need a Nottingham consultant when the time comes! Iāve spent several months in England, but never made it to Nottingham. (Iāve looked at a lot of pictures and read descriptions, though.) So if youāre still around if/when the time comes, I hope youāll be able to give me some suggestions.
And speaking of suggestionsā¦
ā¦agree 100%, we definitely need more of that. Part 2 sets relationship flags for each of the main characters, so I should have an easier time writing not-at-all-romantic friend interactions once each relationship status is definitively āfriends.ā (Not that it canāt change later in the series, of course.) As for more flirting with Arthur, that can definitely be arranged. 
It will impact the available endings in terms of who can inherit the kingdom, and it may impact which side various people/factions choose in the big conflict at the end. It shouldnāt affect the possible happiness of the ending; Guen and Arthur (or whoever) can definitely live happily ever after without children, and yes, they should be able to have a variety of endings similar to the Guen/Lance ones.
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Thanks for the reply. Even though I see it happen all the time in the forums, it still surprises me that the authors talk to us lowly peons.
This could just be my lack of knowledge about these legends talking but, what exactly is Fae? Is it just another word for magic or is it something more? Also what do you mean when you write that Lancelotās eyes are fae lit?
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Yeah, Jeanās pretty awesome when it comes to mingling with the peasants.
āFaeā is short for āfaerieā, I believe. Itās used to describe something magical and otherworldly.
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I figured it was something along those lines, but then what the flibberty gibbert is up with Lanceās eyes?
Iād guess they probably have a faint magical āglowā (or some other trait thatās not typical of humans), indicating that Lance has some non-human heritage.
@Durxa Oh, talking to people here is what keeps me motivated to write. I couldnāt do without it.
Just as @OtherGrimm says, āfaeā (etymologically related to āfairyā and āfeyā as in ācrazyā or āwildā) is something magical and otherworldly. āFaeā gets used for all kinds of things in fantasy lit. It tends to evoke the older, more dignified and scary ideas of āfairiesā before the Victorians turned them into Tinkerbell ā the kind of powerful, otherworldly figures that inspired Tolkienās elves, and magic that isnāt necessarily good or bad, or aligned with human ideas of morality at all, but very dangerous.
At the moment, Iām using āfaeā with deliberate ambiguity (like, I totally expect readers to think, āWhat does that even mean?ā and then try to guess from context). Itās never going to get an exact definition within the series, but I hope itās at least somewhat obvious that in Guenās world, āfaeā means natural magic that humans have little or no control over. Avalon is a sort of ancient nexus of fae magic, which weāll see later on.
So what does it mean that Lancelot has āfaeā eyes? Really thatās up to the reader! He and Morgana both have simply absorbed a lot of fae energy from growing up on Avalon, but itās manifested in different ways. I try to describe the two of them in contrasting terms of light/dark, so Lancelot, the iconic knight in shining armor, is often associated with flashing/glinting/gleaming light imagery. Morganaās fae nature is more evident in how powerful she is as a sorceress, and how well she understands magic in general.
I love the writerās style. The book starts off slowly, but picks up the pace before long. The main plot is about an old couple looking for their long-lost son. Unfortunately, thereās a magic mist covering the land that impairs peopleās memories, so the couple doesnāt actually remember the circumstances around their sonās departure. The two subplots concern 1: a Saxon warrior sent to get rid of the mist, and 2: the sole remaining knight of the round table, whose mission is unknown until the end of the book. Overall, the book is a little melancholic, but still a good read.
@jeantown Itās not a bad city, though speaking as someone who works in heritage they could do better with Robin Hood, the core experience of Tales of Robin Hood in the city centre shut down some years ago, which is a shame as it had some great stuff and a ride element too. Nottingham Castle is virtually all gone too, though Iāve seen a model of it circa 15th century so it looks pretty impressive. But Iāll be happy to give some suggestions! Long as we have John Little, Friar Tuck, Will Scarlet, Much the Millerās Son and Maid Marion (who if youāve seen Maid Marion and her Merry Men on BBC back in the 90ās youāll know was the REAL hero) with the Sheriff, Guy of Gisbourne and Prince John for villains weāll be as golden as a gold arrow up for competition in an archery contest which is also a trap to lure that pesky Robin Hood.
Glad to hear about the friends part for Morgana and Lance especially, I definitely wanted my Guen to be able to say to him āI really respect you as a friend and Iām as confused about the touching thing as you, but I love Arthur so we canāt be together.ā And yay for flirting with Arthur! His awkward reactions are priceless.
That sounds really interesting about how it affects factions and the way things can end. Chances are that my Guen is likely to have a child with Arthur anyway - since I imagine her like Susan Storm she should hopefully be a great mother, even if her child might be a handful. I assume that whilst you suggested that the enchanted forest has something to do with helping Guen get pregnant if she wants, that we donāt have to have Arthur or Lance in our three person party to achieve that?
Edit: Also you might have answered this before but do we get to ever see Avalon in the story? Itās always been one of my favourite locales in fiction since I read about it in Marvel with Captain Britain and company.
Marion.
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I imagined fae eyes while reading as that his irises were moving a litle, a motion like waves, but only if you look at them closely enough.
Also a bit an offtopic about fae magic. In The Witcher books there is also Avalon, as a kind of hub between different dimensions, a dimension in itself full of magical powers. And strong magical beings kind of teleport themsleves there if i remember correctly. Actually one of the books is even titled āLady of the Lakeā although that is more kind of an twist/easter egg than having too much in common with Arthurian Legends.
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