On Mon, 31 Dec 2001 19:15:13 -0500 "Dana Shilling" dshilling@worldnet.att.net writes:

This is from Diana Wynne Jones' very funny The Tough Guide to Fantasyland, which skewers the cliches of wizards'n'wyverns fics.

See also the entry on color coding. Avon has a problem.

1. Clothing. Black garments normally mean EVIL, but in rare cases can mean sobriety, in which case a white ruffled collar will be added to the ensemble.

2. Hair. Black hair is EVIL, particularly if combined with a corpse-white complexion.

3. Eyes. Black eyes are invariably EVIL;

4. Complexion. Corpse-white is EVIL, and it grades from there.

For Servalan, see the entry #4 under QUEENS (old fashioned bad) for necessary details.

Cally seems to be a mix of the entries under ELVES, HEALERS, and HIGH PRIESTESSES.

As for Blake, check MENTOR.

MENTOR. A Tour Official who will be at your disposal until half-way through the Tour, when you will unaccountably lose him. Before that he will guide you, tell you to do in the face of strange customs, and even sometimes instruct you in how to perform minor MAGICS. [Snip age and physical description, which doesn't match] . . . this will give him the right to be bossy, smug, tiresomely philosophical, and infuriatingly secretive about all-important facts. You will be glad to see the back of the old idiot. Unfortunately, you won't have. He will reappear, smugger and bossier than ever, near the end of the Tour, just when you thought you were doing rather well on your own.

Ellynne ________________________________________________________________ GET INTERNET ACCESS FROM JUNO! Juno offers FREE or PREMIUM Internet access for less! Join Juno today! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/web/.