The Duchy of Corwyn

Before LOTR, I had found Kathryn Kurtz's Dernyi series and like Tolkien, Kurtz was able to successfully create a fully developed "secondary world" which was a pleasure to delve into whenever a new book was released.

One of the main characters throughout most of the series (excepting some of the prequel work) was that of Alaric Anthony Morgan, Duke of Corwyn. Dernyi are sorcerers and have at their command powers unimaginable by the humans of the time - which is approximately the middle Middle Ages. The majority of the people of Gywnnedd hold the Deryni to be Evil and are held in at best, suspicion and at worst, revilement. The exceptions, though are the royal family of Gywnnedd and some of the more liberal clergy. An added twist to this long-running series is that Morgan develops the rarest of Deryni talents - the ability to Heal - a talent thought to have vanished in a great anti-Dernyi backlash in the not-too-distant past.

As Andrea was doing my Aragorn shirts, I sent her this two little snippets of costume information:

Severely plain black silk tunic, sleek and close to the body and wrists; over that a sumptuous black velvet doublet trimmed in jet, high and close around his neck and with wide sleeves slashed to the elbow to show off the silk of the tunic beneath; silk hosen disappearing into short black boots of the softest leather.

The emerald Gryphon, its wings dripping gold and jewels, rearing up its head and claws in a rampant pose--segreant, when applied to gryphons--gleamed darkly, with an almost sinister aura from its background of shining black. Around the edge, a golden bordure--the double tressure floury counterflory of the old Morgan arms--gave homage to his paternal heritage.

I said, "Do you think you could do something in emerald and black?" I could almost see her rubbing her hands in glee. (Scroll down about 3/4 of the page ...)

So off we went to design Duke Alaric's costume.

We decided to do a high-necked emerald silk tunic with some golden vine tracery and use black satin and black silk velvet for the doublet. The arms of the doublet would be slashed open, as per the description, and emerald dupioni silk would be used as the lining.

I've always done a lot of walking and I have nicely muscled legs, so I have to admit that I'd probably look good in hosen, but I just couldn't bring myself to wear them. Andrea would look for some fabric for breeches that would go with the outfit and meanwhile I could wear the leather pants from Reg.

The cloak Andrea created was truly a work of art. This is what is called a fingertip cloak since when it is worn, it basically just reaches to the fingertips (get it?). Soft, black wool and emerald green silk (same as the tunic). Now, the only item left to complete the cloak was finding the gryphon.

After some searching, I came across a great picture which Garry could scan, trace and bitmap to their embroidery machine:



We decided to put two facing gryphons on the back of the cloak to fill out the design a bit more. Andrea also suggested some lion-head connectors for the chain fastener, since conceivably (what a great imagination she has!!) the cloak could have been a gift from the King, whose device was a lion rampant.

I went to a costume party wearing the Duke Alaric outfit with the Reg's leather pants and a pair of bucket boots from Joey at Caboots. A lot of the costumes there looked cheap (and they were) and you could tell people were not exactly having a good time wearing them. Again, everything that I was wearing was so comfortable, I had a great time. Which always proves - "You get what you pay for."

A few months later, Andrea finally came across some black-on-black patterned material that she *knew* would go with the costume - so now I have a nice change of pace whenever I wear the outfit - I can go for the more courtly or more sinister look (which I think is a hell of a lot more fun!)