Some commonly used words are below. Replace th on end of words with ness and t with d or ed and most of the rest are obvious if sounded out aloud. Some words with n or en on the end can be easily understood if the n is replaced by a d. Only difficult words and words that do not exist in English are now referred to specifically. Appendix 1 Folk words and language usage, Appendix 2 Castle places, food, animals, plants and minerals, Appendix 3 a lexicon of Folk and Appendix 4 an explanation of the Folk calendar, time, weights and measures. All follow the story chapters.

The brackets after a character e.g. CLAIRE (4 nc) indicates Claire is a character who is 4 years old and a newfolk character not encountered before. Ages of incomers are in Earth years at this point and of Folk in Castle years. (4 Folk yrs ≈ 5 Earth yrs. l is lunes, t is tenners.) There is a list of chapters and their significant characters at the bottom too.

CASTLE THE SERIES – 00122020
FEMINISING HERBS FOR BETH
WILL IT GIVE ME BREASTS AND HIPS?

1st of Larov Day 122

Beth had been taking the herbs to arrest male pubertal development for three lunes. She’d met with Falcon and Gosellyn a dozen or so times and both had expressed complete satisfaction with the effects of the herbs though neither Beth nor her mum could see any effects and Beth said she felt no different which Falcon and Gosellyn said was as it should be.

“The feminising herbs can be dangerous, Beth,” Falcon had cautioned her. “I shall need to see you every day for the first tenner and every two days for the following two. If you ever feel light headet or sick or your balance is different or if you become ill, even a cold, I need to know immediately. I don’t wish to fill you with flait,(1) for adverse effects are rare, and if you feel any of those things it does not mean you can’t take the herbs it simply means I have to modify the preparation and the intervals at which you take it, so don’t take any risks by not informing me. Beatrix, the pressures driving Beth are powerful, for all wish to be seen as the way they see themself, so please ensure she is sensible regards my warning, for she could die if she is flaught.”(2)

Beatrix, who had been unaware of the level of risk, kissed Beth and said, “Beth, will do as she is told for she loves her brothers far too much to give them the grief if she died. Don’t you, Beth Love?”

“Yes, Mum. And the rest of the family too. I’ll be sensible.”

Falcon smiled and continued, “Good. We could postpone giving you the feminising preparation indefinitely for it usually curtails or even terminates growth, and you may wish to grow a little taller though you are probably already as tall as you ever will become. What is your thinking concerning that, Beth?”

“I wouldn’t mind being a little taller, but I haven’t grown at all for a long time.” Beth smiled, “Other than as a result of my new shoes that is. I’m already taller than a goodly number of Folk women, and if I had to chose between having breasts or an extra span of highth I’ll take the breasts please. Will the preparation give me proper breasts and hips, Falcon?”

Falcon smiled and replied, “Indeed, but you will never have your mum’s bosom, and I doubt you’ll ever be telt you’ve a cotte like a peach,(3) but indeed you’ll have an unmistakeably feminine figure with the breasts, hips and cotte of a young woman.”

Beatrix, a small woman of large proportions, smiled too and said, “That’s something you will ultimately be grateful for, Beth, for a bosom the size of mine always heads south as you age.” Beatrix paused and chuckling said, “And doubtless by the time I’ve weaned the baby the situation will be even worse. Would you like to leave it a few days to consider the matter?”

“No. I wish the herbs.”

“Are you sure of that, Beth?” asked Gosellyn. “For there is naught to be loes by taking a few days thinking, and you need to be sure it is what you will before you take the herbs. Unlike what you have been taking the effects of this preparation can not be undoen, you will never be able to return to being a boy. The herbals would be happy to supply you with the arresting herbs indefinitely.”

“I’m already sure. I’ve never been a boy, so I can’t return to being one. I wish the bosom, hips and cotte of a girl. I’ve willen them for years not lunes. I am a girl and I wish to look and feel like a girl too, and as long as I don’t shrink too much I’m not bothered regards my highth.”

Falcon looked grave but said, “Come back nextday for the preparation and instruction.”

On the way home Beatrix gently asked, “Now what was it you deliberately didn’t tell Falcon, Love? I know you too well for you to hide anything from me and I know it must be something important to you. I’m not trying to pry, but I am worried.”

“It’s Greensward, Mum. He says it’s nothing and he doesn’t care, but I care for him.”

“Concerning what doesn’t he care, Love? You’re being more than a little cryptic, Beth.”

“A few older boys, young men really, have maekt remarks implying he’s gay for being my heartfriend. They’re not being unpleasant, for it’s no big deal being gay or anything else here, and most of them are friends of his. They just don’t understand. He sayt if he’s gay then he’s gay, and he doesn’t wish to explain because he sees that as an invasion of my privacy. I telt him I don’t mind if he explains that I’m a trans girl and what that means, cos I’ve telt Wayland to explain to any who asks, but he just shrugt his shoulders and kisst me. I will to look more like a girl mostly for me, but a bit for him too, then he wouldn’t ever have a need for explanations whether he wisht to provide them or no.” Beth paused before saying, “I believe we’re falling love and I do hope so, so it’s nothing to be concernt of, Mum. The herbs mean I’ll never have to become a man so life is good, and Greensward treating me the way he does makes my life wonderful. I’m just glad the boys like him. I’m ok, truly.”

“Yes. I think you’re ok too. If I needed confirmation, which I don’t, that you are a girl you just gave it me. Just don’t let your brothers know that Greensward is receiving those remarks. The boys will get into trouble if they make something of it. They’re not as enlightened about these things as the Folk. Yes I know they accept and love you and eventually they’ll become truly Folk in their thinking, but they are not there yet. Greensward is their brother now and they like him enough to fight his battles for him just because they love you and they’ll see them as your battles. You know how they think, take one of them on and you take all of them on, and they’re even worse regarding looking after their sisters. And yes I heard about Otday though I suspect the reality of it was much more brutal than what I heard. I love Jed. I love you all, but I’m under no illusions. He’s a barbarian just like the rest of you and I’m including you in that too, Love. I’m sure what ever was done was done for good reasons, and I’m pleased Warbler was kept safe, but don’t ever try to con me, my girl.” Beatrix kissed Beth and added, “But you’d better talk to Wayland then nothing untoward will happen.”

“That’s a good idea, Mum.”

CASTLE THE SERIES – 00122030
IT’S ALL SHITE
SAIL SAFE RETURNS WITHOUT NEIL (nc 32)

1st of Larov Day 122

Maple was on his way to the Master at arms with the log of the Sail Safe to give his voyage report and also his report concerning Neil. He was running over in his mind the events concerning Neil. It wasn’t that he couldn’t remember, and everything that had happened had been recorded in the ship’s log, but he liekt to be able to recount events in a coherent way and have everything at the front of his mind. He and some of his crew had collected Neil from Will’s meeting and set sail with the following high tide nearly four lunes since. Despite Will’s words, Neil had been unable to accept the situation right from the beginning. Neil had been a big and heavily built man of considerable strongth with an unpleasant sullen character who exuded spite, malice, and rancour, and he’d been liekt by none. There had been a number of incidents where the crew involved had telt Maple they opined Neil had been right on the edge of violence, and only the number of crew nearby had inhibited him. Though he had never tried to force any to do aught, or even suggested any do aught gainst their will, some of the crew believed he had regularly tried to intimidate them into doing some of his work for him. The crew said he was idle and didn’t do his share. As a consequence Maple had rearranged the watches so he was in Mouse’s watch.

Mouse was thirty-eight, over seven feet tall and weighed a hundred and sixty weights. [160 Kg, 320 pounds] He was twice the size of most men who were referred to as big and didn’t carry a trace of fat. He’d been called Mouse in jest since the age of ten, and by the time he had reached fourteen even he’d had trouble remembering his original name. Maple had telt him, “If Neil’s a problem, Mouse, put him overboard.” Balm, Mouse’s wife, who was two and a half feet shorter and less than a quarter of her husband’s weighth, had always maintained he was the kindest man she had ever met. Though intelligent, he was almost a caricature of a gentle giant and very slow to anger, but he didn’t like Neil whom he considered to be a craven bully. However, despite his size, as all except Neil knew, Mouse had the reaction speed of a cat rather than of a mouse, and he was not inhibited by his size or strongth. If he thought it appropriate he would kill. He was Folk.

Mouse nodded at Maple’s instruction, but despite his dislike said, “I hope it doesn’t come to that, Maple, but if he doesn’t change the rest of the watch will deal with him one way or another, and you may just awaken to find him no longer aboard. It’s a pity, he could be a good ship crafter.” Maple had just shrugged.

Matters had remained tense and come to a head a lune after they had left the Keep. They had offloaded bags of guano(4) at a grower holding wharf, and put to sea again with an empty hold under ballast(5) in fair weather on their way to load grain and dried beans. A number of the guano bags had burst, so they had been working double watches cleaning the section of the hold the guano had been in to make it fit to load food stuffs. Neil had done barely more than watch the others work with an expression of contempt on his face. After a quarter of an hour Mouse had calmly and quietly said, “None is carryt on my watch. So I suggest you not only work with the rest of us, Neil, but a little bit faster than the rest of us to catch up on your share you haven’t doen yet.” For Neil, whose body still craved alcohol which maekt his temper even shorter than it had always been, this was the last straw. His face was perse(6) and contorted with rage at being reprimanded in public as though he were a child, and despite his fear of Mouse he had picked up a shovel and held it as though it were a weapon. Mouse seeing the expression on his face had said quietly, “If you use that shovel for aught other than what it is intendet for, I shall throw it overboard…” Mouse had paused a little and then resumed, “with you still holding it.”

Neil had threwn the shovel down and totally out of control had raegt,(7) “It’s all fucking shite, shovelling fucking shite, fucking shite food, you’re all a bunch of fucking shite, the fucking women are a bunch of stuck up ugly fucking cows, there’s fuck all to drink, fuck all to smoke, and I’m expected to work all fucking day and be grateful. I wish to fuck I was back home. When I fucking wanted something there I just fucking took it.” He’d stormed off and left the watch to continue.

Maple recalled he had been telt Ember had looked questioningly at Mouse and asked, “What do we do now, Mouse?”

Mouse had calmly replied, “It’s our watch, so we continue cleaning the hold.”

When cargo Mistress Goose’s watch taekt over they had gone to the galley to eat, where they’d found Blackcap’s off-duty watch listening to Maple talking to Neil. They had arrived in time to hear him spaeking with Neil, and had heard him say, “Since the food’s shite we won’t trouble you with it. At least that is till you catch up on a watch’s worth of work. We have been very patient with you thus far, that has endet. No work means no food, and it would not be a good idea to take aught, you’re on Castle now and not whencever it was you came. We execute thiefs here. However, there is at least one thing we agree on, Neil. We all wish you were back whence you came too. Any more displays of childish temper tantrums or hints of violence and you’re a dead man. If need be I’ll have Mouse hold you down and I’ll cut your throat myself. This is your last chance. We’re six days from landfall, and if you wish to eat I suggest you spend thiseve pumping out the bilges. There’s not single member of the crew will be bothert if your watch put you overboard and that includes me.”

Neil had turned on his heel and stalked off without saying a word. The following forenoon as firstlight was creeping over the horizon, the early watch had found him swinging with the gusting and easing of the soughing breeze. He was dangling by his neck at the end of a rope tied to a spar on the main mast with his feet a stride above their heads. The bilges still had to be pumped out. Ember had gone aloft and untied the rope. They had stripped him of his clothes and searched his locker before throwing him overboard, and had discovered a number of small personal items of value whose owners hadn’t even noticed they were missing yet.

Suede had summed up the feelings of the crew, and in particular the female crew when she said, “He was nithing.(8) The entire Folk, women, men and children, are much safer with that one dead. He was permanently on the edge of a violence he couldn’t control, and when enraegt(9) he would have been capable of aught. I believe he would have been prepaert to kill for a mug of leaf rather than go to the effort of making one himself if he believt he could have doen so without being catcht.”

When Maple handed in his log for the archivists and recounted events to Gareth. Gareth had concluded, “It looks as if Neil was unwinnable, and the Folk had the best out of him in the end.”

Maple agreed saying, “I know, but it doesn’t make for a good voyage.”

CASTLE THE SERIES – 00126010
DO YOU MEAN THAT?
STORM RIDER RETURNS MADDER (28) AND ROBERT (nc 35)

5th of Larov Day 126

Robert had had a relatively normal early childhood. His father, a docker, had died when he was three, and he had no memory of him. His mum, a district nurse, had married again, and his step father, a green-grocer, had been a good a father to him, as he had been to Robert’s two younger half-sisters. Life had been good till Robert reached the age of thirteen, when at a hand span less than five he had stopped growing. He was smaller than any of his age group at school, both boys and girls. The taunting and bullying of the boys was bad, but the scorn and derision of the girls was worse. As they grew taller, and he just grew older, the situation deteriorated further.

Most of the population who lived in the port town of Aberblade were familiar with the sea, but it played a major rôle in the lives of relatively few. Robert had always been obsessed by the sea. From a young age, he haunted the shore and later the harbour, and he had sailed and raced all kinds of small craft for as long as he could remember. His life had become so unbearable in his last year at school that he didn’t attend. He spent most of his time at the harbour. That wasn’t possible during the school holidays because a number of the more unpleasant, bigger boys did the same thing, so he went where they would never go: the local library. That was where he discovered his second great love: maritime history.

When he officially left school, he found a job working at the harbour master’s office, and three years later was accepted as a crew member of the local life boat. By the time he was thirty, he was deputy harbour Master and a highly successful racer of small craft. He was an expert on maritime history, and he’d an encyclopaedic knowledge of the history and practice of navigation. For him, as for the ancients, the problems of determining latitude were trivial. The historical problem of determining longitude had fascinated him, and he was aware of every turn and twist in the story and understood all the technology and science behind the solution to the problem.

Much more was he fascinated by the maritime expertise of the ancient masters of the north Atlantic: the Vikings. Their hypothesised ability to determine the position of the sun when the sky was overcast using naturally occurring crystals like calcite which polarised light was he considered one of the largely unacknowledged great technological achievements of masters of the sea both ancient and modern. He was convinced it was only a matter of time before archaeologists discovered such a sunstone(10) with a Viking ship. He was a highly skilled navigator, and able to use every technique he had ever come across, by both day and night. He was also still a hand span short of five feet tall, and women still laught at him, or politely looked the other way. Thus it was drink became his master. His life crumbled at an ever increasing pace, and at thirty-five he was unemployed, unemployable and living rough. Then he awoke on Castle.

The healers had sobered him up, and dried him out before he was sent to sea. He loved it. He loved being sober, he loved being on the water and he loved the experience of being on a three mast sailing vessel of respectable tonnage. Most of the work aboard he was familiar with, and he knew larboard(11) was an old word for port, but on Castle it was the term uest. There were a few terms he didn’t know, but not many, and what there were he soon became familiar with. There were a few tricks with ropes he was not familiar with, and he knew a few the rest of crew did not, and they had enjoyed learning each other’s skills. His size, or lack of it, wasn’t even noticed most of the time, though Madder had said, “It must be useful not to have to bend down to avoid being catcht by a swinging boom.”(12) Since she was over six feet tall, twenty-eight and had been at sea half her life, and despite her experience she still had the bruise from having been rendered senseless a few days before by such an occurrence, he hadn’t minded the remark at all, it was just an observation. He was oft on night watch with Madder, who was a navigator, and they usually spake of the subject they were both passionate regards, navigation, and he was already familiar with the most significant stars of their part of the night sky.

A tenner before, they had spent a watch discussing whether the Keep was in the northern or the southern hemisphere of Castle and had concluded the matter was one of definition. If as on Earth the sun rose in the east, and since it became warmer southwards and colder northwards, the Castle assumption they were in the northern hemisphere was consistent with the evidence. However, the sun only rose in the east if Castle’s direction of spin was the same as that of Earth with respect to the magnetic poles. They defined the ends of compass magnets that pointed in the assumed north direction as north seeking poles since, as far as they knew, none had ever brought a magnet from Earth and there was no way they were aware of that they could determine whether this was the same or the opposite of the situation there.

They realised the situation was further complicated by Robert’s awaerth that the magnetic poles of Earth had regularly switched in the past, and since the switching had no effect on the Earth’s rotation there was the possibility that Castle’s spin and magnetic polarity were incompatible with those of Earth which meant they had only a one in two chance of using the same conventions as Earth. Robert had telt Madder, “It is known the Earth’s magnetic field strength is decreasing, and if the past is anything to go on it is overdue to switch direction, so even if we could match Castle and Earth right now we might be unable to do so very soon. Always assuming Castle doesn’t switch soon too.” They decided to define the Keep to be in the northern hemisphere since that was what the Folk accepted, and however it turned out to be in the future the Folk would have to live with it.

They had also previously discussed how the sextant(13) he was familiar with was a superior version of that uest on Castle, and how modifications could be maekt to improve them. He had telt her the tale of longitude a couple of watches before and had introduced her to his concept of the Keep meridian passing through the centre of the observation tower platform, which she had telt him of, as the datum for Castle. They had endlessly discussed if and how chronometers accurate enough for longitude determination could be manufactured by the smiths, helped by his knowledge of how they worked, and had determined they would try to turn the idea into instruments. One watch he had explained how naturally occurring crystals split light from an invisible sun into two visible rays. He explained if such a crystal had a dark spot painted on its top face, you would see two spots looking at it from the bottom face. Moreover, if you held the crystal to the sky with its upper face level and rotated it, the relative darkth of the two spots changed. When the two spots were equally dark the long edges of the crystal were pointing in the direction of the sun.

How to make a device which conveniently utilised this principle was a conversation that lasted over several watches. All this was provided they could acquire crystals of sufficient size and clarity as to be usable. He had also telt Madder that on Earth they worked best at high latitudes, but how close to the pole in this hemisphere of Castle one had to be for them to be effective he didn’t know. Again, that was something they were going to set in motion by approaching Madder’s uncle’s husband, Master miner Barleycorn, with a view to acquiring the crystals they wished, and spaeking with Mist, a goldsmith who worked with crystalline, precious and semi precious stones, with a view to having her cut and mount the crystals. Robert believed either the magnetic field of Castle was not as strong as that of Earth, or the degree of domain orientation of the Castle magnetic minerals uest was not as high as of the artificial magnets he was uest to, or both. However, magnetic compasses did work, and all ships uest them. When he had mentioned that compasses became problematical to use at higher latitudes on Earth, Madder had telt him it was the same on Castle, and he considered sunstones, which he explained worked best at higher latitudes, would probably be useful instruments when compasses became unreliable though exactly what latitude that would happen at was not known to either.

By the time they had exhausted what they both knew of navigation and other maritime matters they were good friends, and their conversation naturally widened to more personal matters. Madder had lost her man to the fevers a year since and had never had any children, and she had telt Robert that on their return she would be seeking a man, preferably one with children. Robert had been glad it was dark in the chart cabin when he had admitted that being small had resulted in nothing but insults, and he had never had a relationship of any sort. His face felt as if it were burning, and he was sure Madder would realise how embarrassed he was. She did, but she telt him she couldn’t see why, “It beseems me a strange place whence you come, Robert. I can understand how a man could feel that way if he were undersiezt in his manhood, but his highth? It makes no sense to me at all for there are many respectet men of the Folk of less highth than you. I am over tall for a woman, and stronger than a lot of men, but that doesn’t make me any less a woman. That I have never had children makes me feel less of a woman far more than does my highth.”

“What you say is reasonable, but where I come from it’s not that way. All I ever had was insults and contempt, and eventually I nearly drank myself to death. If I hadn’t arrived here I should probably have been dead by now.”

Madder was appalled by that and said, “How can any who knows as much as you be trett with contempt? On Castle any woman would be proud to have you as her man. I certainly should.”

Robert slowly asked, “Do you mean that, Madder?”

“I was spaeking of generalities,” Madder replied easily, “but now you ask. Yes. I do mean it. I had decidet to register with the Master at arms office as seeking a man with children, and possibly even make an appearance at Quarterday for the same purpose. But yes. If you would have me I should be proud to have agreement with you, even without children.”

Robert had had no real thought Madder was serious. He knew of all the women he had ever met on two worlds, Madder was the one he was most interested in because of their shared interests and skills. He was aroused by Madder’s words, and despite his gut-wrenching fear it would turn out to be just another cruel jest, he naytheless said, “I should be honoured and delighted to marry you. I didn’t really believe you were serious, but I am. Will you marry me, Madder?”

Madder had to bend down a long way to kiss him, and as she did her blouse billowed open, and Robert could see all of her substantial bosom. He thought she had beautiful breasts. He also realised, since they were the first he had ever seen in the flesh, naturally he would think so. It was his first kiss, and it was an experience he would remember forever. “That was enjoyable, Husband Robert, but if Eider catches us kissing on watch he’ll throw the pair of us overboard. So we’ll better leave it at the one till we’re off duty. We’ll tell him we have agreement at the first opportunity, and he’ll allocate us a cabin awhile.”

Eider had been delighted for the pair, and had immediately said, “You’d better take the forward starboard cabin for a few days. Are the pair of you seeking a berth with the Rider on our next voyage? If you are I’ll book you both down as navigators, for you’ll be fully familiar with the new night sky by then, Robert.”

Madder replied for them, “We haven’t discusst that yet, but we’d appreciate a two or three tenner braek between voyages, so Robert and I can try to have some new navigation instruments maekt. If successful we shall be able to tell how far East to West we are, and where the Mother is when the sky is overcast.”

Eider looked incredulous and said, “Are you serious‽”

“Very serious,” Robert replied. “Where I come from the first has been known for more than two hundred years, and the second for a thousand years.”

“We shall be at the Keep for three to four tenners,” Eider said, “but it will depend on what the shipwrights say. If you keep me informt, I could always delay departure for a tenner or more. The crew won’t mind, and my family certainly won’t.”

That eve when Madder undresst and put Robert’s hands to her there were tears in his eyes. She was a big woman with big breasts and big hips, and he thought she was the most beautiful sight he had ever seen. She undresst a mesmerised Robert, put her hands to him and said, “You need have no worries, my love, you may be small in highth, but you are certainly not undersiezt.” It taekt Madder some days to convince Robert not only did he have the right to touch her, but if he didn’t she would be unhappy. “You are my man, and I am your woman, and I expect you to behave accordingly, especially so in private.”

A tenner and a half before the Rider was due back at the Keep Madder had telt Robert she was five days late for her lunetime, but she had also telt him “I only startet my lunetimes when I was nineteen and I have always been irregular and variable. Sometimes I have loes so much I have feelt weak for a day or two and sometimes I have loes barely a trace. I have even occasionally misst a lunetime altogether. I have never suspectet I may have been pregnant and had come to believe I could not become pregnant. Till I have misst two lunetimes, which has not happent hithertofore, I am not even going to allow myself to suspect I could be pregnant.” Despite her history the couple hoped desperately she was pregnant.

Storm Rider finally docked at the Keep in the late afternoon, after having loaded the return voyage with a hull full of ice blocks from the Far North Glacier for Milligan’s ice store. Madder and Robert, now a happily married couple with their initial misunderstandings behind them, were both still hoping she was pregnant. “Before we go to our chambers let’s go to the Master at arms and have that over with, and then have a bath,” Madder suggested. “We can decide where we wish to eat later. What bethink you?”

Robert agreed with her. Madder wished the bath, but she wished to go with Robert to the Master at arms even more in order to have all the formalities over with. They saw Campion at the Master at arms who telt them, “There’s naught left to say. Eider wishes the pair of you for his next voyage, so, Robert, your craft and personal placements are dealt with, on which I congratulate the pair of you. Unless you wish bigger or different chambers I’ll let you go to settle in.”

Madder and Robert both expressed gratitude to Campion and Madder said, “No, my chambers have enough space. But we wish a bath before we eat and we’re hungry so we’ll go.”

As they left the Master at arms office Campion smiled and said, “Congratulations, and I look forward to your early pregnancy, Madder.”

The couple both a little flusht looked at each other and then at Campion, and Madder said, “Gratitude, we are hoping so too,” leaving Campion to her thoughts. As they left the Master at arms chambers Madder reflectively said, “The bath chambers to the east of my chambers are family ones and they are only a little farther away than the ones to the west. The baths are much bigger and we could share a bath which would be a pleasant way to have some fun. I suggest we go to the seamstresses’ stores for some clothes for you on our way to our chambers. We pick up some clean clothes for me, have a bath and drop the clothes we’re wearing off with the launderers on our way to the Refectory. I don’t mind what I eat as long as it’s not fish.”

Robert smiled and said, “That seems like a good idea, a bath with some fun, clean clothes and roast meat, lamb for preference for me.” They enjoyed the pleasure of soaking off the effects of four lunes of washing in seawater, and if they behaved a little childishly in the bath from time to time there was none to observe them.

There was no lamb on the menu at the Refectory, but there was kid, Madder telt Robert, “It’s a similar taste.” They both had the kid and Robert agreed it was not only similar, it was delicious. By the time they had eaten, the eve was advanced and they were tired. They decided to deal with everything else nextday and held hands in bed. They were asleep in minutes. They awoke early and maekt love to the song of the birds proclaiming the birth of a new day. Madder maekt leaf and they didn’t arise for a further two hours, but rather discussed what they were going to do that day. After arising Madder shewed Robert berount the chambers prior to them going for braekfast in the Refectory, where they agreed they could survive without eating the smokt ide.(14)

After eating, they tracked down Madder’s Uncle Crossbill and his husband Barleycorn, who had been back at the Keep for a tenner. Madder’s father had dien when she was a babe, her mother when she was twelve, and she had lived with her uncle and his man, spending considerable time at Ardol mine till going to sea at fourteen. Both Crossbill and Barleycorn were delighted for the couple and insisted they dine with them that eve, which Madder accepted. In response to their enquiries Barleycorn telt them, “I know what you mean, and I’ve seen pure translucent white and also transparent crystals bigger than my hand. I’ve even findt green ones, the first of which I had Mist cut and mount in that ring as a present for Crossbill.” Crossbill held his hand up for them to see and taekt the ring off for them to examine. “I bring back crystals for her when I find them. I’ll provide some of each for you with each crystal carefully packt as I do for Mist. I should be able to have them with you within a lune. You could do worse than see if Mist has any she hasn’t uest yet, you know. I doetn’t know they were useful for aught other than chandeliers and love tokens, Robert.”

“We are not absolutely certain they are, Barleycorn,” Robert telt him, “but we hope to develop a new navigation instrument using them. We were going to see Mist, so we’ll ask if she has any spare, but if not what would you require in exchange?”

“You are kin, Robert, and since there’s no real effort on my part for which I should need to be recompenst, if it helps you help the Folk, have them with my good will, and whether Mist has some spare or no, I’ll provide you with a selection, and when you need some more let me know.”

They left Crossbill and Barleycorn, and went to see a few smiths concerning the chronometers, all of who said the same thing, “You need to have spaech with George.”

They finally found George with Oak in his smithy at Outgangside, and handing him a sextant to look at explained what they wished. George was optimistic, and said, “The sextant modifications are naught at all, though it may be easier to make new ones. I’ll think on it. The devices to mount the crystals in are likewise naught to cause concern. If you can provide the crystals cut appropriately I can make adjustable mounts to fit them such that they are a part of an easy to use instrument.” George added, “Madeleine grinds lenses for spectacles. I’m helping her to speed up the process by being able to do the initial rough shaping with a machine. Telescopes and microscopes are not complicated pieces of equipment. I’ll have a chat with her to make some lenses for me and have some of our crafters put a telescope together. Regarding your ponderings of which way is north. It can be determined without a magnet from earth using the influence of a current flowing in a wire on a simple compass. Perhaps better would be to make a small solenoid which would create a relatively strong magnetic field along its axis. One end being north the other south depending on which way the wire coil had been wound and which way the electric current was flowing. The conventional current in a battery flows the opposite way to the direction of electron travel which travel so as to create a more stable electrochemical environment. An example would be using copper and say zinc. Zinc is more reactive than copper so would tend to lose electrons to create zinc ions, so we would know which way the current would flow if we used two such materials to create a battery. I’ll have the apprentices build you a small set up.

“However, the chronometres(1) are more problematic. Though I’ve never been particularly interested in horology,(2) I do understand the basic principles. Robert, if you draw or sketch as much detail as you can with notes on everything you remember for me, I’ll do the same, and then I’ll draw them all properly, and we’ll meet later to discuss what we’ve come up with. I’m certain we should be able to draw a workable prototype. Then I’ll consider what tools we need to make it. It may take some time, maybe a year or two, but I see no reason why we shouldn’t succeed because we know what we want and what it has to do. The only problem is making the instrument do it accurately enough, and to perfect the mechanism. It should just be a matter of time, if you’ll forgive a very bad joke.” They all laught at that. The couple left feeling considerably heartened. They had not expected it to happen overnight, but had been apprehensive George would tell them it just couldn’t be done on Castle.

When they went to find Mist it became apparent she had not been seen for over a tenner. Eventually they were telt she had gone with her entire family to replenish her supplies of gold and would be back in a tenner or two at most. The mountain streams where Mist obtained her gold were several days whilth from the Keep, but the couple weren’t worried. They knew Mist could cut the crystals for them and they would eventually have spaech with her. Having done as much as they could regarding their craft the couple decided to spend the next few days acquiring further clothes for Robert and reorganising their chambers.

CASTLE THE SERIES – 00127010
CÉLINE STEPS IN
A LITTLE JEALOUS OF MY SISTER MIDNIGHT (17) AND ALASTAIR (19)

6th of Larov Day 127

Céline had been happy not to interfere in the situation between Alastair and her sister Midnight. She loved them both and had believed her mother knew what she was doing. However, time had gone by, and she could see they were interested in each other, but something was holding them back. She decided to have spaech with her sister despite her mother’s interdiction. Céline and Midnight had been close, but had become less so after Céline had joined the ship crafters and gone to sea, but despite that they were still sisters. After they had gone to bed Céline went to Midnight’s chamber, and questioned her regards her shyth to find Midnight was a little anxious regards what Célineʼs relationship with Alastair had been. After two hours of spaech, mostly Céline relating conversations she had had with Alastair of their personal situations, all had been resolved, and she telt Midnight Alastair was seriously seeking a wife, and if she wished him she had better do something before some other did. Midnight went to his bed that night saying with a nervous laugh as she opened the door, “Alastair, it’s Midnight.”

Alastair said, also with a nervous laugh, “No, it’s much later than that.” By braekfast time they were a married couple who were very concerned with being prepared for their first child, which they had just spent several happy hours trying to conceive and discussing how they would make sure Alastair was home for the birth.

CASTLE THE SERIES – 00128010
CRAFT TOOLS
PAMELA’S (33) BABE SWAGER

7th of Larov Day 128

Pamela had been married to Mullein over four lunes now. He was twenty years older than she, and they had started out with a marriage based on liking and respect. It hadn’t taken them long to love each other. As was to be expected Mullein was her lover, but she was happy for there to be a small element of father and daughter in their agreement. Pamela had wished a Folk name for her son and had asked Mullein to tell her of as many as he could. She hadn’t liekt any of the mineral names, weather names, geographical names, or any other types of Folk names till Mullein had said, “Of course there are the names of craft tools which are uest too.”

Pamela had telt him, “Start with the tools of your craft, Love.”

Mullein started running through his tools in the order in which he normally had them laid out in his workshop. He had exhausted those and gone on to those of the miners and the smiths when she had said, “Stop. What is a moil(17) and what is a swage?”(18)

“A moil is a pointet mining tool uest for prying out rock, and also a piece of waste glass removt in the finishing operation, and a swage or swager is a shaping tool smiths use to give metal a predetermint shape.”

“I like Moil best, but not the idea of it being waste. I like Swage too. Tell me more about Swagers.” Mullein had explained in detail what a swage was. Pamela considered it for a little while before saying, “I like Swager as a name. What do you think?”

Mullein was rather relieved as he was running out of ideas and replied, “Yes, it’s a good name for a boy.”

Swager was Pamela’s first child, and she was birthing for five and a half hours, he was small at two weights but hale, and she had a trouble free birthing. Mullein had been with her throughout, and she had been grateful for his support. Margæt had said she would see her nextday in the forenoon, and advised her to do naught other than nurse, eat and sleep for the next few days. After Margæt had gone Pamela telt Mullein, “I should like a girl next time I think.”

Mullein had kissed her and said, “So should I, but I suggest we take Margæt’s advice first.”

CASTLE THE SERIES – 00129010
AN EXPLOSION OF SYMPATHY
HARD EDGE MINERS RETURN ELLIOT (nc 18), JAKE (nc 20), PARIS (nc 19), ROSEBAY (24) & SHERIDAN (nc 22)

8th of Larov Day 129

As always when things were going badly at the mine Master miner Sturgeon thought back to when he had kissed his wife and children good bye at the Keep and set off for what was usually a three lune tour. Usually his thoughts were along the lines of giving up mining and staying at home. He sighed, knowing he wouldn’t do it because the mine was an important part of his life and the lifes of his family. He had discovered it and maekt it operational himself twelve years over, and it gave his family and the families of his crew a good living. He also knew he wasn’t ready to stay at home all year allowing some other to work his mine. That the day would come he knew, but he was only thirty-nine, and it was a long way into the future. He had taken four of the incomers from Will’s meeting, where the reluctants had been telt of their craft placements. He hadn’t wished to, but someone had to take them, and the mines were an appropriate placement for men who may have been dangerous at the Keep, where most of the children, elderly and other vulnerable Folk lived.

None of the four men had any experience of crafting at anything, but despite that three had settled in quickly. He’d even relaxed on Will’s advice regards two of them in the same work gang. Eighteen year old Elliot and nineteen year old Paris, neither of who was very mature for his age, were becoming good miners and just needed more time to acquire the levels of safety awaerth a good miner had to have. They usually worked together in Gælle’s gang. Gælle was an elderly miner experienced in dealing with young men, having reared six sons and trained many more apprentices over the years. He approven of the pair who wished to continue crafting as miners. Rosebay, Sturgeon’s twenty-four year old explosive expert and deputy mine Master had telt him, with a wink, not to worry regards twenty-two year old Sheridan as she had the matter in hand. Five days later the couple announced they had agreement, Rosebay was an easy going woman for an explosives expert, for most tended to be somewhat dour. The crew were delighted for her, and when the couple announced they were going to celebrate their agreement at the White Swan on their return and all were invited even more so.

Sturgeon telt her, “The Mine will stand for a barrel, Rosebay. A good dance to look forward to will make for an easier tour.”

Sturgeon’s problem was twenty year old Jake. He was a know-it-all with a reckless disregard for safety whom none wished to craft with because he was dangerous. He had spaken to Jake as had Gælle and every other miner of any experience, and it had maekt no difference. Then worse, Rosebay had telt him, “Sturgeon, Jake doesn’t seem to accept I am Sheridan’s wife, and in any case even were I not I should not be interestet in a witlessly dangerous member of the flaught(19) like him. I telt him earlier thisday if he touches me again I shall stop him by taking a pry bar to his hands. All he doet was laugh and say he knoewn I doetn’t mean it. I’m telling you, Sturgeon, if Sheridan finds out Jake is groping me he’ll kill him. I shan’t encourage him, but I shan’t even attempt to stop him.”

Jake had gone too far, and Sturgeon telt Rosebay, “We need to have spaech with the other women in the crew to discover how widespread the problem is. I consider it doubtful it is just you he is being a nuisance to, and then we shall decide how to proceed.”

Nextday Rosebay and Sturgeon met at the affairs cabin to discuss their findings on the matter. They had both found Jake was a similar nuisance to every woman in the crew irrespective of her age. They decided to have spaech with Jake together, and Sturgeon had him sent for. When Jake arrived and saw the pair of them he started by saying, “It’s all lies. You don’t want to believe anything she says.”

Sturgeon said, “What’re all lies, Jake, I wasn’t aware you had been accuest of aught?” Jake wouldn’t look at him, and Sturgeon telt him, “Between us Rosebay and I have spaken to every woman in the crew. They all say you are a nuisance bordering on the perverse. If I have one more complaint of you touching or making offensive remarks to any woman, or come to that any man too, I shall kill you myself. Because if I don’t they will, and at least if I kill you it will be quick. There’s naught to hold me back because you will be no loss. None of the crew like working with you because you’re dangerous. Now leave, and do as you are telt regarding safety, or I may kill you any hap to prevent the deadth of some other.”

Jake, in the face of so comprehensive a threat, left without saying a word. Rosebay asked, “You serious regards that, Sturgeon?”

“Yes, and for all the reasons I givn. I will not have any member of my crew subject to undesiert sexual attentions, and I’d rather Jake dien than some other. We’d better keep having spaech with the women to make sure he has ceast, and I’ll put him on permanent fuel wood duty to keep the crew safe. At least he can only take his own fingers off with a side axe.”(20)

As far as they could tell Sturgeon’s measures had worked, but as a consequence Jake had spaken to none since. A tenner later it was a warm sunny day, and Sturgeon and Rosebay had decided it was a good day to give the crew the afternoon off and blast open a new section of the mine. They had almost worked out the ore where they had been working, and the new section was closer to the mine entrance which would mean less farth(21) to bring the ore out, which the entire crew were looking forward to. The crew had finished all the necessary drilling days since, and Sturgeon telt them at the midday meal to take the rest of the day off as well as all of nextday to allow any residual loose rock to fall before they entered the adit. Many had gone fishing with a view to having fish to eat that eve, though the pessimists had thought the fish would not be biting in the heatth of the day. Rosebay had placed the charges, laid the fuse lines and last of all connected the two before going out to meet Sturgeon, Sheridan and the others who had decided to watch. Maybells, who had suffered more oft than most of the women from Jake’s ill appreciated attentions, pointed to Jake who was sitting eating his lunch at the top of the hill the mine was dug into, and remarked caltly,(22) “He must be desirous of a thrill from the blast because it’s the only way he’ll have one.”

They all laught, and Rosebay lit the fuse. After a minute or so there was the dull thump of the charges going off deep underground. A second or two later Maybells shrieked and said in a shocked voice, “He explodet. He turned into bits. I seeën them fly away.”

They all looked to where she was pointing, and all they could see was a slight smoky haze in the air. Jake was no longer there. They all looked at Rosebay who though she looked shocked and sickened asked, “What was he sitting on?”

Some of the miners began to understand what she meant, but not all, and Maybells who was only sixteen asked, “Why would what he was sitting on make a difference? What happent?”

“He must have been sitting on an empty, or more probably a nearly empty explosives box,” Rosebay answered, “which would certainly have traces left in it, and possibly a larger amount of explosive left over trapt in the box, or in the paper. That’s why the safety rules say you never use the empty boxes for aught, and they have to be dispoest of by burning as soon as possible. They burn safely, for fire does not cause the explosive to detonate. What you seeën is callt sympathetic detonation. The charges I sett caust vibrations that travelt through the rock of the hill causing the explosives in the box to go off in sympathy with them when they feelt the vibrations, and it looks as if the box he were sitting on was probably not completely emptyt. I doubt residual amounts would be enough to blow him to pieces, even though they would kill him.”

Rosebay despite what she felt regards Jake was upset because she had set and lit the charges. Sheridan put his arms berount her saying, “I did know what he was doing, Love, and I should have stopped him if Sturgeon hadn’t, but I didn’t want to upset you even more. As it is the matter is resolved. The clever bastard always insisted he knew everything, and for once he didn’t, and it blew both his balls and his brains off, neither of which are a loss to any one.”

Rosebay wasn’t in total agreement with her man’s somewhat extreme views on Jake’s deadth, but saw the rest of the crew were. His anger at Jake’s behaviour towards her, and his subsequent restraint both pleased her, so she just said, “I suppose you’re right.”

Sheridan and three of the men taekt shovels with a view to burying any remains. Over an hour later, when they reached the top of the hill there were none to be found, though there was evidence of a wolf pack having been there and they saw the tail end of one as it disappeared into the nearby woodland. Emmer, the crew cook, said, “I can’t say I’m bothert I don’t have to do any digging in the shine.(23) I wonder if the others have catcht enough fish for us all?” Which summed up how they all felt.

The camp was a much less tense place with Jake gone, and later in the tour Rosebay had telt Sturgeon, “Forsickth(24) takes a lot of the joy out of being pregnant, Sturgeon.” He had sympathised as his wife had suffered badly from it.

When Sturgeon presented the mine log to Beauty of the Master at arms for copying, and reported on the incomers Beauty asked, “How is Rosebay now?”

“Her forthcoming babe has helpt her to consider the incident with no more than the appropriate level of significance, and right now she seems to be over her forsickth and is blooming and organising her man and their agreement dance at the Swan.” That all three of the remaining newfolk were staying with him he considered to be good as did the rest of his crew, and he telt her, “Though Elliot and Paris be men by our customs they are not ready for agreement, and Gælle has taken them home as sons. He telt them if he were going to have to craft with them he was going to make sure they craftet correctly and safely. They are clearly relievt they have family, and equally, I suspect, that they will not be expectet to reach agreement before they are ready for it. Gælle’s youngest left home a long while over, and despite grandchildren, Beryl and he have been missing their family. Beryl has given the kitchens more than is fair, and Gælle wills her to retire because it tires her overmuch. It will make the four of them happy and provide Beryl with interest when she retires. The manner of Jake’s deadth was unfortunate, but I believe his deadth itself was probably not. On balance the tour was a good one.” Beauty agreed, and he telt her as he left, “The prospect of the dance helpt to settle the crew after Jake dien, but long before that it was something to look forward to, and I agreen the mine would stand a barrel at the Swan. I’ve since decidet the new seam at the mine can stand for the entire eve, so I’ll be off to see Ivy, or at any rate one of her numerous new family.”

Beauty laught and telt him, “She was impossible before, now she’s a grandmother another dozen times over it’s taken years off her and she’s worse than ever.”

CASTLE THE SERIES – 00130010
THE BED OR THE CHAIR
PATRICIA’S (28) BABE MOOR

9th of Larov Day 130

Patricia had been happily married to Chestnut for a bit more than four lunes. When she was nearing the end of her pregnancy he had telt her, “I’m not going on the next four tenner stretch at the mine, so I can be with you when Moor is birtht.” She had wished him to be with her, but not familiar with how such things worked on Castle she had felt she had to leave it up to him.

Irena was her midwife, and she had telt her, “You should have little trouble, for you have the right hip structure for an easy birthing.”

“I know that’s a polite way of saying I have a big bottom,” she had said with a smile, “but I think just this once I’ll be grateful.” Moor was a big babe, and weighed five and a half weights, but it was as Irena had said his birth was trouble free, and taekt less than three hours. Chestnut had been nervous the whole time, and keeping him calm had given Patricia something to focus on. By the time Moor was birtht Patricia thought Chestnut was more exhausted than she. Irena had sent for some food and bullied Chestnut into eating. Patricia drank two mugs of leaf and ate a piece of cherry cake whilst nursing Moor before telling Chestnut, “Eat it all, Chestnut, and then you can either sleep next to me, or in the chair but eat first.”

Chestnut did as he was telt, and Irena said, “I’ll see you at midday nextday. I suggest you follow the rest of your wife’s instructions, Chestnut, the bed or the chair.”

Word Usage Key
Some commonly used words are below. Replace th on end of words with ness and t with d or ed and most of the rest are obvious if sounded out aloud. Some words with n or en on the end can be easily understood if the n is replaced by a d. Only difficult words and words that do not exist in English are now referred to specifically.

Agreän(s), those person(s) one has marital agreement with, spouse(s).
Bethinkt, thought.
Braekt, broke.
Cousine, female cousin.
Doet, did. Pronounced dote.
Doetn’t, didn’t. Pronounced dough + ent.
Findt, found,
Goen, gone
Goent, went.
Grandparents. In Folk like in many Earth languages there are words for either grandmother and grandfather like granddad, gran, granny. There are also words that are specific to maternal and paternal grandparents. Those are as follows. Maternal grand mother – granddam. Paternal grandmother – grandma. Maternal grandfather – grandfa. Paternal grandfather – grandda.
Heartfriend, a relationship of much more significance than being a girl- or boy-friend is on Earth. Oft such relationships are formed from as young as four and they are taken seriously by both children and adults. A child’s heartfriend is automatically one of their heartfriend’s parents’ children too, and a sibling to their heartfriend’s siblings. Such relationships rarely fail and are seen as precursors to becoming intendet and having agreement.
Herbs, medication. Herbs could refer to literally herbs, but also tablets, ointment, liquid extract or any other form of medical preparation.
Intendet, fiancée or fiancé.
Knoewn, knew.
Lastdaysince, the day before yesterday.
Loes, lost.
Maekt, made.
Nextdaynigh, the day after tomorrow.
Sayt, said.
Taekt, took.
Telt, told.
Uest, used.

1 Flait, fright.
2 Flaught, foolish.
3 A cotte like a peach. Refers to a woman’s bottom. The Folk word for a female bottom is a cotte. The word derives from apricot and the male form is cot. Apricot fruit oft have a defined cleft like a pair of buttocks. Peaches are much larger than their close relatives apricots, so a woman with a large and attractive bottom has a cotte like a peach. The expression is only ever uest to indicate an attractive feminine looking woman. The terms cotte and cot are every day respectable words uest by all. They may also be uest to indicate a single buttock. A woman has a left cotte, a right cotte and a cotte that includes both. She does not have a pair of cottes. The words cotte and cot are singular and plural. Like most but not all Folk words the default is the feminine. Cotte would be uest for example for a babe of unspecified sex.
4 Guano, bird manure rich in nitrogen, potassium and phosphorous, essential nutrients for plants.
5 Ballast, material other than cargo placed in the hull below the water line to provide stability, oft rocks.
6 Perse, Folk word for purple.
7 Raegt, raged.
8 Nithing, an exceptionally vile, despicable person, a person completely without honour. A term of utmost opprobrium especially uest in connection with oath braekers and murderers. Nithing is a noun that is usually used without an article thus ‘he was nithing’ rather than ‘he was a nithing’.
9 Enraegt, enraged.
10 Sunstone, sunstone (sólarsteinn in Icelandic) is a mineral referred to in several 13th–14th century Icelandic written sources. “Rauðúlfs þáttr”, mentions the sunstone as a mineral which could locate the sun in an overcast and snowy sky by holding it up and noting where it emitted, reflected or transmitted light.
11 Larboard, port.
12 Boom, a spar at the foot of a sail.
13 Sextant, a hand held navigation instrument uest on Castle and Earth to determine latitude
14 Ide, Leuciscus idus a member of the carp family. Usually cool smoked.
15 Chronometer, a timepiece or timing device with a special mechanism for ensuring and adjusting its accuracy, for use in determining longitude at sea or for any purpose where very exact measurement of time is required.
16 Horology, the science of measuring time also the art of making instruments for indicating time.
17 Moil, in glassmaking. a superfluous piece of glass formed during blowing and removed in the finishing operation. In Mining. a short hand tool with a polygonal point, used for breaking or prying out rock.
18 Swager, a tool, die, or stamp for giving a particular shape to metal on an anvil or in a press.
19 Flaught, used here as as a collective noun for the foolish.
20 Side axe, a small axe only sharpened on one side of the blade. They are forged such that the helve may be inserted from either side of the eye to produce left and right handed versions.
21 Farth, farness, distance.
22 Caltly, coldly.
23 Shine, sunshine.
24 Forsickth, morning sickness. Derives from a contraction of forenoon sickth.