Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2002 23:51:56 -0500 (EST)
From: happy_thanksgiving_arval@yahoo.com
Subject: Academy of Saint Gabriel Question

gender: Other
other historical re-enactment: on
language: Japanese
begin: 500
end: 600
Pronunciation: ROW-ee-nuh AHP MER-din ibbun HUH-san OH-ken-sheeld ohf thuh
               lahnd ohf thuh DANN-sing YOO-nih-corns MAHC KOR-mik INGUN
	       ??????? ohf HERULDS-bayne

Dear Academy,

I'm looking for documentation for a name I've already picked out, 
Rowena ap Myrddin ibn Hassan Oakenshield of the land of the Dancing 
Unicorns mac Cormaic ingen Dhomhnhihall (did I lenite that properly?) 
of Heraldsbane. My persona is a Japanese rapier fighter living in the 
late Hanwei period. She's also a herbalist, diviner, Druid healer, 
and 24th level mage.

I'd really like to keep the elements Myrddin, Rowena, and land of the 
Dancing Unicorns. I found the names in "Catrina's Big Ol' Book O' 
Baby Names" and "Mary Stewart's Merlin Trilogy" and "The Mists of 
Avalon" (the movie, not the book).

I'd be very happy if you could help me, dear Academy members, and I 
hope soon to be able to join your esteemed ranks!

Yours,

Siobhan bint al-Shah Harkonnen of Arakis
herald looking for a change

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Action: Comments from Galiana, 22 Nov 2002 23:54

*ducking* I wanted to wait until X-mas to give you your present, 
Arval, but I just couldn't! Remember, murder is a capital offense!

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Action: Comments from Arval, 23 Nov 2002 11:07

Ah, so that was you.  Nicely done.  A bit early for April Fool's Day 
;)

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Action: Comments from Raquel, 24 Nov 2002 03:13

>Rowena ap Myrddin ibn Hassan Oakenshield of the land of the Dancing 
>Unicorns mac Cormaic ingen Dhomhnhihall (did I lenite that properly?) 
>of Heraldsbane. My persona is a Japanese rapier fighter living in the 
>late Hanwei period. She's also a herbalist, diviner, Druid healer, 
>and 24th level mage. 

Clearly, this is going to take a little work. The primary problem I 
see is that while the persona is referred to by female pronouns, she 
appears to be describing a male line of descent. Since nearly all 
women in all pre-modern cultures were known by their mother's names, 
this is going to be hard to justify without an elaborate addition to 
her current persona story.

<Dhomhninhihall> should actually be <Dhaoimhnhnaoihhaill>, and given 
the period she's looking at, will probably sound a lot like a sneeze, 
which may not be what she's looking for. Or would the Japanese 
influence affect the lenition in some way? Also, "Myrddin" is a name 
only used in families of Elvish descent, as far as I know, and 
"Oakenshield" is clearly a Dwarven clan name. She can go ahead and mix 
them, but once again, we're going to need some elaboration on the 
persona story, given the ancient hostility between the two races.

If she's going to be an herbalist, her name should indicate that. I 
would suggest that she adopt a middle name that expresses her healing 
skills, possibly <Thyme> or <Moonchant>.

I'd also want to doublecheck whether 24th level mages are allowed to 
carry rapiers. Off to the library!