June Novel Essential Information

Novel Title: Oath Bound

Time Setting: 791*

Genre: Fantasy

Minimum Word Goal: 90,000

Timespan: June–July

Locations: Gammelhjem, Gammelhjem; Mørkningsfjord, Mørkningsfjord; and Klarutsikt, Klarutsikt, Svärtaland

Main Characters: Aðalbjörn of Mørkningsfjord, Friðljót of Gammelhjem

Background Information: Born the second son and third child of his father, the first his father had by his second wife, Aðalbjörn was a matter of months younger than his brother, who was the son of his father’s first wife.

As a result of their closeness in age, Aðalbjörn and his brother spent a lot of time together and thus were given the same education even though his brother was the one who was going to become king of Mørkningsfjord after their father.

Over time it emerged that Aðalbjörn was a more savage warrior than his brother, and thus he and his brother actually pledged that he would be his brother’s chief bodyguard, which was a role he took seriously.

When the brothers accompanied their father on raids and other engagements Aðalbjörn worked diligently to take on more men than his brother had to, although he didn’t prevent his brother from engaging in battle entirely.

While in a particularly heated battle with people who were resisting a raid, however, an archer succeeded in shooting Aðalbjörn’s brother in the heart; enraged, Aðalbjörn went on a rampage and ended up scaring the enemy forces into retreating before having to be dragged back to his own people instead of chasing them down.

Aðalbjörn grieved deeply for his brother, feeling that he was responsible for his brother’s death by not protecting him well enough. His brother had been married when he died, and his wife had been pregnant; she gave birth a little prematurely to a daughter when she heard the news and then killed herself at her husband’s funeral, leaving their daughter an orphan.

As much as Aðalbjörn wished that he could’ve died too, he was now heir to his father’s title and domain, and it would’ve been considered cowardly for him to kill himself, so he has taken on his brother’s role as heir, as well as taking on something of a guardianship role to his niece, who is being raised by his stepmother.

In the couple years since his brother’s death Aðalbjörn hasn’t gotten married yet, but he’s beginning to think he should probably look into finding a wife, except that he doesn’t want to leave a devastated widow like his brother did.

Born the only child of her parents, the king of Gammelhjem and his second wife, her mother died shortly after her birth, which was a terrible blow to her father, who had loved his second wife more than his first, even though his first wife was regarded by all to have been the prettier of the two, although she’d never produced a child.

As a result of her stepmother having never had a child and her father’s having been too in love with his second wife to consider the idea of marrying any more wives, Friðljót stands as heiress to her father’s title and domain.

Because of her bearing a strong resemblance to her mother, her father doted on her significantly, particularly in her younger years, but as time has passed her father has changed in many ways.

He’s taken on an aged appearance that makes him look twice as old as he actually is, has lost his ability to speak clearly, and doesn’t move around at all; effectively he has entered a vegetative state.

Her father’s descent into vegetation has allowed for her stepmother to have more control over the kingdom, as well as Friðljót herself, which has caused Friðljót’s life to become more and more miserable as her stepmother treats her with severe contempt and unkindness.

The treatment of her stepmother and the effective loss of her father have caused Friðljót much distress and bred in her a deep yearning to be of age to be married so that her husband can take her into his house and away from the unhappiness that has become the centre of her existence; thankfully, she has recently finally achieved marriageable age and thus hopes it will only be a matter of time before she is betrothed to a handsome young man who will free her.

*does not correlate to 791AD

Pronunciations:

Gammelhjem: gahmehlhyehm

Mørkingsfjord: muhrking'sfeeyord

Klarutsikt: klahrooktsit

Svärtaland: svertahlahnd

Aðalbjörn: ahthahlbyourn

Friðljót: freethleeyuut