Courtly Love!

[Ace]

I don't have any courtly love to speak of in my campaign as the foundation of a rich but seeminly powerless wife is pretty much non existent. There are feudal kingdoms but not only are they the minority,magic has changed them profoundly from even the romatic ideals of them

There is an old saying on Midrea, my game world that goes "all women are witches" and especially among the nobles its pretty much true. Any reasonably capable noble women is likely to be a wizard, a witch or a cleric of some kind -- she has time and resources and its pretty likely she'll use them. A typical Noble might be Courtier 2 Wiz 2 -- as she gains in experience it will be maybe Cou4 Wiz 4 and in her later years Cou 4 Wiz 4 Cloistred Cleric 4 Men rarely put capable women on a pedestal. Even average people can manage a few cantrips -- and of course some people have inate magic too

Also its regarded as crude be feasible to fix infatuations with magic. If someone appears to be getting obsessive or bardic about some rich persons wife ran what happen is said party ends up "magically corrected" with a Major Geas spell

 

[SHARK]

It wasn't always quite as unrequited and ethereal, as evidenced by a passage from Uc de Saint Circ's vida of Bernatz de Ventadorn:

E apelava la Bernart "Alauzeta" per amor d'un cavalier que l'amava, e ella apelet lui Rai. E un jorn venc lo cavaliers a la duguessa, e entrat en la cambra. La dona que.l vi, leva adonc lo pan del mantel, e mes li sobr'al col, e laissa si cazer e leig. E Bernart vi tot, car una donzela de la domna li ac mostrat cubertamen. E per aquesta razo fez adonc la canso que dis: Quan vei l'alauzeta mover.

And Bernard called her "the Lark," because of the love of a knight who loved her, and she called him Ray. And one day the knight came to the duchess, and went into her room. The lady, when she saw him, raised the corner of her dress, lifted it up to her neck, and lay down on her bed. And Bernard saw everything, for a servant girl of the lady showed him everything in secret. And for this reason he wrote the song that goes "When I see the lark moving..."

Greetings!

Great stuff! I love that, my friend! Historical elements are always so interesting. It's amazing what we discover. Very cool.

Semper Fidelis,

SHARK