Eifelheim - Michael Flynn [2]
Herwyg One-eye. Farms Dietrich’s tithe lands
Trude Metzger. Widow. Holds the strips abutting Herwyg. Her sons are Melchior and Peter
Nickel Langermann. A gärtner
Walpurga Honig. Beekeeper and ale-wife
Oliver Becker. Son of Jakob the baker
Bertram Unterbaum. Owes “handservice” as herald to the Herr. Oliver’s rival for Anna Kohlmann
Anna Kohlmann. Kohlmann’s daughter
Geirech Jaeger. A hunter
BURG HOCHWALD
Herr Manfred von Hochwald. Lord of the High Woods. A widower
Kunigund. Manfred’s older daughter, fiancée to Eugen
Irmgard. Manfred’s younger daughter
Eugen. Manfred’s junker (der junge Herr)
Thierry von Hinterwaldkopf. One of Manfred’s vassals. A Ritter (knight)
Max Schweitzer. Sergeant at arms. Has charge of Manfred’s garrison
Peter von Rheinhausen. Manfred’s minnesinger
Fr. Rudolf. Manfred’s chaplain
Everard Steward. Manfred’s steward, responsible for the sallands and the serfs
THE KRENKEN
The Herr Gschert. Steward of the vessel, later called Baron Grosswald
The Kratzer. Senior scientist of the charter group
Shepherd. Maier of the pilgrims
Johann (Hans). Servant of the talking head
Gottfried. Servant of the electronic essence
Arnold. Chirurgeon
Ulf and Heloïse. Labtechs
OTHERS
Philip von Falkenstein. A robber baron
Malachai ben Shlomo. A factor for the Seneor family, based in Regensburg
Tarkhan Hazar ben Bek. Malachai’s servant
Einhardt and Rosamund. An imperial knight and his wife. Holds a fief near Oberhochwald
A Freiburg fishwife and her son.
Archdeacon Willi Jarlsberg. Onetime classmate of Dietrich’s. Holds Freiburg for the Bishop of Strassburg
A Savoyard Chirurgeon.
William of Ockham. The venerabilis inceptor. Widely known philosopher, at Kaiser Ludwig’s court
Imre. A peddler from Hungary
For God is deaf nowadays and will not hear us,
And for our guilt he grinds good men to dust.
—WILLIAM LANGLAND,
Piers Ploughman
C’est le chemin qu’on appelle le Val d’ Enfer. Que votre Altesse me pardonne l’expression; je ne suis pas diable pour y passer.
—MARSHAL VILLARS,
regarding the Höllenthal, 1702
PREFACE
Anton
I KNOW where the path to the stars lies. The gate opened once, a long time ago and in a far and unlikely place. And then it closed. This is the story of how it opened and of how it closed and perhaps of what hinged upon it.
You see, Sharon Nagy was a physicist and Tom Schwoerin was a cliologist. That was the heart of the business right there. That was the beginning of it and the end of it and most of what happened in between.
Or perhaps you don’t, for the seeing was not easy. Medieval settlement patterns and multiple brane theory seem worlds apart. Indeed, they are worlds apart, tangent only in that small apartment in Philadelphia that Tom and Sharon shared. But at such close quarters they could not avoid learning a little of each other’s work, and that was the fulcrum on which they turned the world.
But I was into the affair last and least of all, and perhaps it would be best to let the story tell itself.
I
AUGUST, 1348
At Matins, The Commemoration of Sixtus II and His Companions
DIETRICH AWOKE with an uneasy feeling in his heart, like a bass voice chanting from a darkened choir loft. His eyes flew open and darted about the room. A night candle guttering in its sconce cast capers over table and basin, prie-dieu and psalter, and caused the figure upon the crucifix to writhe as if trying to tear itself down. In the corners and angles of the room, shadows swelled enormous with their secrets. Through the east window, a dull red glow, thin as a knife across a throat, limned the crest of the Katerinaberg.
He took a long, stilling breath. The candle told Matins anyway; so, throwing the blanket aside, he exchanged nightshirt for cassock. Goose bumps puckered his skin and the short hairs rose on his neck. Dietrich shivered and hugged himself. Something will happen today.
By the window stood a small wooden table with a bowl and aquamanile upon it. The aquamanile was of chased copper and had the form of a rooster, with