Apparently the "correct" Anglicization for Guinevere's evil sister Gwenhwyfach is either "Guinevak" or "Genievre." Which sucks, because I just realized that you could call her "GuineFEAR."
A bit about my Arthurian anthology (retelling) that nobody asked for:
Whispers: it's going to be a mess... sorry... It's also long and out of order...
Ambrosius was poisoned by Uther, his brother by their father’s second wife
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Uther is a shape-shifter and Gwrlais studied magic while fostering under Consul Aurelius
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Igraine is Jewish. I don’t know; it just feels right. And she’s a proven warrior (her sisters, too).
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Anna is Gwrlais’ eldest, then Elaine, then Morgan
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Merlin puts Arthur in a brothel (I’m sorry, but I really enjoyed that idea from King Arthur: Legend of the Sword)
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Uther’s next, and only other child, was named Anna, and she is not to be confused with Anna of Orkney
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Arthur leaves the brothel at 14 after he turns Cai (who is 17) in to the city guard for whatever crime he’s committed; Sir Ector comes to inquire after him, intrigued by the boy, and takes him away with him when his secret heritage is made known
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Cai is acting out due to his father, Cynyr Ceinfarfog, and mother, Sir Ector’s currently unnamed sister (probably named Elaine 😂 *shot*🙃), being killed; Sir Ector is his uncle, and he loves him, but he’s frustrated and grieving
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Arthur is called “Boy Rivers” until Sir Ector takes him in, giving him back the name Arthur; Cai calls him Wart every chance he can
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Bedwyr is black and two handed at first; he and Arthur meet in battle against the Saxons and they become fast pals. Griflet is mixed race
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Arthur stole pigs belonging to Mark, King of Cornwall; finds it hard to trust Arthur after that, even after Arthur pulls the sword Clarent from The Anvil™️
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The sword Clarent is pulled from an anvil on a stone
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There are three Guineveres: G1 mothers Arthur’s daughters; G2 dies within the first year; G3 mothers Amr and much later Loholt.
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Arthur marries G2 when he becomes King of Logres after pulling Clarent; he’s approximately __ years old (I really need to find the timeline that I did... I think he was, like, in his thirties?)
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Lancelot tries to repress his homosexuality. Galehaut encourages his exploration (but never pushes) but his duty to King and Country™️ keep him away a lot; the longer Lancelot is around Arthur, the more he falls in love with him, the more he represses it, the more he needs to convince himself he loves Guinevere. He’s a confused mess.
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Lot is not the name of the King of Lothian (anymore; he dies), it’s Uen; when Mordred is 13, he curses his ‘father’ so that the world will forget the man’s name
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May Day Massacre totally happened and that’s when Gawain uncovered his sun-powers
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Geheris has Moderate-ID
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Mordred spends his 14th birthday on a ship to Norway; he doesn’t see his family again until he’s 17 and he returns with strong Viking-ties
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Most of the Orkney Clan look next to nothing alike: Gawain is big and strapping with red hair and freckles galore; Ywain has auburn hair and light freckling, he’s a bit narrow and willowy; Gravaine is built like a barn and pale like his father with black hair; Clarissant, Agravaine’s twin, shares his black hair and stocky build but she has freckles that covered her face; Soredamor has medium-brown hair, she’s the tallest and thinnest of the lot, but physically frail with a chronic cough; Geheris is stocky with black hair, a red beard, a ruddy skin tone, and freckles; Cai the Grumbler, or Calogrenant, has light brown hair and green eyes; Gareth is albino with mismatched eyes (one brown, one pale); Mordred’s hair is long and dark brown and his eyes match Arthur’s grey; Yvain has freckles and Urien's black hair and short stature; Morfydd has pale blonde hair, dark brown eyes, and is short and curvy
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Tristan and Mordred are bros who adopt each other almost immediately
Bi-Team: Galahad, Gawain, Lamo (Mordred’s servant), Bertilak, Mabon ap Modron
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Aces: Morgan le Fay, Mordred, Ambrosius Aurelianus
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Magic users: Uther Pendragon, Gwrlais, Morgan, Guinevere the Third, Myrddin, Mordred, Cwyllog, Iseult (Queen of Cornwall, Princess of Ireland), technically Tristan via harp, Gawain via solar power, technically Cai because giants
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Tristan seems drunk when he’s sober and he knows elf-tunes; the court learned that the hard way when they heckled him one too many times and he magicked those of them who weren’t sent out of the hall into an orgy they never speak of
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As much as Cai honestly loves being a knight, he's also got this secret passion for cooking and all things culinary; despite all his outward protesting of being Seneschal, he actually jumped at the chance, seeing it as a way to indulge his "little selfish interest" and to sort out all the riffraff trying to get in with Arthur
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I’m about convinced that the Orkneys as a unit lean Slytherin and Pellinore’s family leans Griffindor; this is not the cause of the feud but a participating factor in why it keeps escalating as it does
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G3 is technically a low(low low)-level earth goddess tied to the land (family of Welsh giants), and that's part of the reason she feels drawn to the men she's drawn to but her actions towards --and with-- them are her own
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Guinevak is G3's twin in every way but mothering, magic, and looks; she's the rejected bastard who spends a lot of time with Mordred, Galahad, Calogrenant, and Tristan; envious of G3, Lynette, and Cwyllog --each for different reasons
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Urien was first married to Modron (the relationship deteriorated after Mabon's abduction and she returned to Annwn) before patiently pressing suit to Morgan who eventually yields as "friends in matrimony". After Morgan chooses Accolon for a lover, Urien is upset but allows this, naming him as her personal knight
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Urien does not do comfort. Ask Morgan and Anna about when they found out Uen had sent Mordred away and the mother was distraught
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Bedwyr loses his right hand as penance for Arthur stealing King Mark's pigs.
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Yvain is a bastard child sired by Urien on his steward's wife after Morgan and Accolon are... happy together
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Anna of Orkney is... twisted up. She loves her children (a little... too much sometimes) and tries to do right by them but... well... yeah... it's... it's no bueno
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Cai has super powers. Access giant-size, extra endurance, impervious to hot or cold, and heat-radiating hands
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Uther is... terrible. He's the sorta worst, really. Seriously, the things he does
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Eigyr is not passive in captivity; that does not mean things go well for her
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Morgan was learning magic from Gwrlais and took his scrolls and books on the subject hostage after his death
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Gwrlais' daughter Elaine (the one who marries Nentres) is devotedly Jewish like her mother and raises her children as such (such as Galeshin and Hoel).
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Nentres adores Elaine in marriage and even before that took his vows as her knight and betrothed seriously; he carries whipping scars on his back (from Uther) for trying to rescue Morgan from a monastery in her name. He tells Arthur later that he bears them proudly
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Cai's parents are dead because of Uther (I can't remember how) and Sir Ector's father was a Roman soldier who stayed behind
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Mordred is technically Melehan's step-father (he's a bastard by rape) but only Mordred and the mother know. They don't talk about it
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Elaine of Garlot has psychological damage from the things Uther has done to her family and others in front of her. She has no tolerance for violence and aggression.
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Tristan has PTSD and severe depression; he's also an alcoholic
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Nentres slowly poisoned Uther over the years with hemlock
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Mordred's first wife is a Lothian common girl-turned-slave-turned-servant that he's known from childhood. Her name is Julianna, and her family name is Ruricius, coming from a Roman-merchant connection
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Morgan has been locked in a monastery twice; she escapes the second time after Uther's death and runs into Urien for the first time
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Urien owns the first claymore. His father had it made for him as joke but he's a pro now so, well, guess who has the last laugh?
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Agravaine killed a Unicorn as a child; it's okay, Unicorns are kinda evil here and will straight-up murder you
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Urien doesn't age, eat, or drink (he hasn't since Modron); he still looks super young, roughly 16-17. His younger brothers and later on his own children look older than him
