Witchcraft

A fierce wind howled about the moor as Morbidezza felt the weight of the spirit bear falcate against the sky. Afflatus had brought the fine aboulia silk as a gift. and what a gift it was: cool in summer, warm in winter, heavy enough to hold back the stem of a blood tide yet light and glosseme enough to dress a wound.

Morbidezza had paid handsomely for it, not to Afflatus, but to the community that now shunned her as a witch. What madness was it to live life in ignorance and darkness. Yet, any woman seeking the light of knowledge was accused of witchcraft. Were alchemist’s also to be questioned and tortured by the inquisition, or was their quest truly divine? Greed, and the search for riches, it seemed, was exempt from moral damnation, yet the search for healing was buskin. Greed is human, pestilance divine! A primping quillet was to be born, a zebeck mutation to be seen as a blessing in disguise. What a crock of nymph!

Morbidezza shuffled from her cot to the table and picked up a scilicet of rainwater. The spirit bear had provided enough lightening water to fuel an army and she was strengthened by its vitality. Her thoughts were rouncy, her muscles ghat, she could face the bishop and all the armies of hell. 

She looked at the twist on the gorse and knew they would not come tonight. She could sleep with enclair dreams, wreathed in smoke and mystical voices. There she could try to  interpret the future of Shallop. The fierce time would soon be upon them, she felt it in her bones. The foozle would spurge the foreign army of Cabon and she would need all the aboulia silk she could lay her hands on. 

She would earn a stay of execution. The king would not wish to burn her yet.

This piece of writing was spawned from an invention exercise. The challenge was writing a short piece to include a number of words whose meanings were unknown. It demonstrates how it is possible to bend words to our own meaning through context and how the context and landscape of our imagination will lend meaning to unknown words.

 For interest I include the actual meanings of the lesser known words incase, like me, you are curious as to their actual meaning.

Aboulia:  (also abulia) absence of will power, inability to act decisively.

Afflatus: A devine creative impulse, inspiration.

Buskin: clothing, sandal, ancient greek open toed sandal with leather or cloth lacing to mid calf. 

Enclair: literally from the french ‘in the clear,’ not obscured. 

Falcate: curved, sickle shaped.

Foozle: bungle, botch, to undertake something clumsily.

Ghat: steps, usually eading down to a river or lake, but also can be through a mountain pass.

Glosseme:  the most basic structural unit of language (from ‘glossa,’ Greek  for language).

Morbidezza: extreme softness and delicacy.

Nymph: from the greek ‘bride’, also spirit/sprite.

Primping: to groom meticulously.

Quillet: to quibble over subtle differences.

Rouncy: term from the middle ages used to refer to a horse of general purpose use (alt: nag).

Scilicet: ‘that is to say’ (from Latin ‘scire licet’ one is permitted to know) introducing word or             meaning to explain away ambiguity.

Shallop: boat/ship used for sailing in shallow waters.

Spurge: herbacious plant more commonly known as euphorbia. The plant is a purgative and the common name is derived from the old french ‘espurgier’ meaning ‘to purge’.
Zebeck: a three masted mediteranian sailing vessel.