TOG37
It’s October and the triplets from the Sisters of Misrule are helping Sharona out with her brand new vote incentive!
Wasn’t that nice of them?
The Savage Sword of Sharona
The misadventures of sexy swordswoman Sharona
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Ah, there it is!
Nice Song of ice and fire-ref.: “The blood is strong”.
I just hope Marguerite never found out her hubby gave her old family home to his illegitimate children to use as their robber’s den.
How did Jhon discover the family connection, by the way? Did he have the Daughters’ backgrounds checked, or was one of them jailed and he went to see the prisoner? However he did it, he seems to have managed to mostly contain the secret….
While I hadn’t worked out the specifics of how the king found out, I had generally envisioned a scenario in which one or more of the sisters were captured and a trusted officer of the king spotted the birthmark and discreetly informed the king, prompting him to go into damage control mode.
Actually, the fact that the King had illegitimate children with prostitutes in his youth wasn’t really a problem. It wasn’t unusual for rulers to have children with mistresses, concubines or courtesans(although the King never had sex with other women during Marguerite’s lifetime) and if the news got out, it wouldn’t have caused a scandal.
The sisters wouldn’t have had any claim to the throne either, despite being older than Daemilia. The public and the court would never favor the daughters of prostitutes over Daemilia, the legitimate daughter of the King and Queen.
The fact that the King’s illegitimate daughters were bloodthirsty robbers that terrorized the countryside WAS a problem though. In fact, it was a political nightmare. He couldn’t put them on trial for their crimes because the risk of too many people discovering his secret was too great. He didn’t want them killed because they were his children after all. So he decided to make the aforementioned compromise. A small handful of the king’s most loyal servants and advisors know his secret and have helped him make sure it doesn’t get out. They also act as the king’s go-between with the Sisters of Misrule, as the King didn’t go to the Black Tower himself to tell them to kidnap Daemilia.
I’m surprised none of them tried to extort their sire for more than they got, to be honest. The Daughters did not strike me as extremely gifted with longterm foresight… Do they have a leader who is more cagey than the ones we’ve already seen?
The Sisters of Misrule don’t have any other leader(although they probably should), but they were more than happy to have their own personal castle as a hide out and to be able to continue their criminal careers unhindered by the authorities.
Also, while we know that the King wouldn’t have his daughters killed to protect his secret, The Sisters of Misrule don’t know that, and were happy to take his generous offer rather than try to get more out of him.
The lesson hedonism creates it’s own problems as does being a hack the thing is to manage them.
Too true!
In hindsight, the K.I.S.S.-sister’s barrage of insults based on the theme of prostitutes suggests she has some… issues… with her mother and/or the environment she was born into and grew up in.
That’s a good observation. The first sister is certainly the least “well adjusted” of the Sisters of Misrule, and her upbringing may have had a lot to do with that.
Some pointless, grimdark rambling:
K.I.S.S.-sister has a distinctive appearance, and some of her mannerisms suggest emotional scarring, which she’s continually soothing by taking it out on everyone she meets. “None shriek as loudly as those who believe their voice is ignored.” I imagine when she was little, she received more than her due share of insults and mistreatment around town because everyone recognized her as “the prostitute’s daughter”.
Strike one for hating her heritage.
Given that she did grow up in a brothel, people may have expected her to join in her mother’s footsteps. Social pressure being what it is, most attempts she may have made to make a little money around town were probably shot down because “it would look bad for business” if she were recognized as doing errands for a respectable shop. Running with urchins who weren’t family and committing low-grade theft was probably also problematic because she was easily recognizable and “one of the usual suspects”. It would not be a stretch for her to feel her environment was choking her, actively holding her back from escaping to find her own destiny.
Strike two against her heritage.
Third, the distinct possibility that any money she managed to make may have been taken from her on a regular basis. Even if her mum and the other workers weren’t the kind of people to steal from an angry little girl, there were probably all kinds of customers passing through, many of whom held the workers and children living at the brothel to be not so much people as a collection of walking goods and services. A little light-fingered theft would not be beyond the realm of imagination.
In addition, the ‘good’ people in town may have had no trouble with shaking her down for some quick cash. After all, she was ‘just’ a future prostitute, practically a criminal element, and thus stealing from her (or just slapping her around to relieve some stress) would be doing evil unto evil and thus good, while returning ‘stolen’ money to the economy and teaching her that crime does not pay. This may have ranged from urchins through average citizens to town guards, leaving her with hatred for virtually the whole scala of humanity.
Strike three against her heritage, which she probably saw as the reason for all of her suffering.
All of which adds up to an emotionally messed-up woman who hates where she comes from because to her, her origins are the reason for the world causing her emotional and physical pain, and wants to hurt and humiliate the world to rid herself of her own trauma. It’ll never work, because it’s a big world and she’s only one woman – unless she’s surrounded by her siblings.
Most of this sh*t would not have flown with the Minotaur sister or the Triplets, or not as long. Once the former started to bulk up and kept growing taller, I imagine a lot of people growing more respectful of her by the day. The triplets could have benefited from people mocking them; if they were busy pointing and laughing at one or two of them, the rest could nip behind the fools to pick their pockets – or stab them in the kidneys.
I imagine K.I.S.S.-sister is devoted to (some of) her siblings while hating everyone else because they’re the only ones who understand where she comes from, shared a lot of her experiences, and accept her on a day-to-day basis… and they’re stabbing the world just like she is, though not for the same reasons.
Rambling done. :p
Actually, a number of your theories are pretty close to what I had originally intended for the Sisters’ childhoods(I had planned to include a flashback of them as children in the story, but didn’t end up using it).
Here’s what I had envisioned:
The stigma of being a prostitute’s daughter is pretty much like you described. “Nice” families don’t let their children play with the children of the prostitutes, but common/blue collar families do as long as they stay away from the brothel itself. However, the first sister quickly gained a reputation for being “not right”(as in: “There’s somethin’ not right about that whore’s girl…”)and for bad things happening whenever she was around. A child mocks her- the family dog turns up dead, A farmer hits her for trying to steal from his market stall- his sheep trough gets poisoned- Children are routinely hurt by her “practical jokes” and “rough housing” until even the sympathetic parents won’t let her near their houses or children.
In many ways, your suggestion that she is: “an emotionally messed-up woman who hates where she comes from because to her, her origins are the reason for the world causing her emotional and physical pain, and wants to hurt and humiliate the world to rid herself of her own trauma” is a pretty accurate description of her mindset, but with the added wrinkle that even as an adult, she refuses to accept that her own actions have played any part in her problems.
She resents being falsely accused of crimes, but disregards the many times that she was guilty of the things she was accused of, or how her malevolent behavior has contributed to her being “the usual suspect” when things go wrong.
She resents being ostracized by the local children and forced to consort only with the other children of the prostitutes(though mostly with her sisters, since she doesn’t always get along with the other children of the brothel due to her hostile attitude) but disregards the mental and physical harm she has done to those same children. etc.
The second sister was a “big girl” who got teased because of her weight until she figured out that she could use her size to bully and intimidate the other children, a practice she has continued through adulthood.
Even at a young age, the triplets worked as a team(despite squabbling with each other all the time) much in the way you described(one causing a distraction while the others steal). They would also sneak into bedrooms in the brothel and steal money out of the customers clothes while they were “occupied with other matters”. 😉
Anyway, that was generally what I had envisioned for the Sisters of Misrule’s childhood.
Someday, if I ever got the time I would like to do a one shot story starring the Sister of Misrule(I have some ideas for a story featuring them that would take place a few years after Throne of Games).
Unfortunately, I’m pretty covered up with work right now(besides keeping up with Sharona, I’m working on the extra pages for the Call of Cucucthu ebook, not to mention an unrelated comic project, commissions, etc.), but if I ever get the chance, it would be cool to do.