Throughout the writing of the Far Stone Cycle, I employed my skills as an academic librarian and dug up a lot of facts. Allow me to share some of the most noteworthy tidbits for Adamant in Dust. All the following information might or might not have made it into the final draft.

Medieval Clothing

A personal interest is clothing, so we start here. The key to medieval outfits was layers. Women wore underdresses, called cottes, under any number of over-garments. Kirtles were plain dresses with tight sleeves. Surcoats could be sleeveless or open. A gown could be worn over a kirtle for color contrast. Two other kinds of dresses were the bliaut and the cotehardie. See if you can tell the difference.

The thing is that men also wore garments by the same names, like surcoats and cotehardies. Surcoats could be worn over armor with distinctive colors and crests, signaling a soldier’s allegiance. Cotehardies seemed to be fancy dress—not for fighting. But only men wore hose, or leggings, under their long or short tunics.

A final note about clothing. Royalty and the nobility liked to show their wealth and status by wearing furs. And would you know? Squirrel fur was more expensive than lamb fur.

Armor

Since we touched on armor, let’s go deeper into this essential medieval garb. In the early Middle Ages, chain mail was used instead of plate armor. The small metal rings linked together to form a mesh that was flexible and strong. Even though it was mostly replaced by plate armor in later medieval times, chain mail is still used today, among other things, for shark-resistant wet suits.

A gambeson, or aketon, is a padded defensive jacket worn separately as armor or under mail or plate. It was made of linen or wool, quilted and stuffed with multilayers of batting. Surprisingly, it could be strong enough to stop a sword or arrow.

Business in the Castle

Of the endless details I learned about castles, the garderobe captivated my attention the most. In fact, when we went to Scotland a few years ago, this was the room I felt a need to explore in every castle we visited — from curiosity rather than a need to use it. I’m not sure what that says about me. The garderobe is, of course, the privy or bathroom. Most privies were built against the exterior wall of a castle, and the toilet consisted of a hole that opened to a courtyard, moat, or river below. Some have internal shafts for the waste to vacate, but the exit needed to be high up, so enemies could not enter the castle through them. This actually happened when Richard I’s French castle, Château Gaillard was sieged in 1203.

The unenviable task of tending to the waste piles fell to a servant called the gong farmer. Bunches of hay served as toilet paper, so he didn’t have to worry about their biodegradability. But he did have to do his job at night so as not to offend the sensibilities of other castle inhabitants. Gong farmers also had to live in isolated homes but made decent wages per ton of excrement removed.

Although the toilet in a castle was crude by today’s standard, it was a luxury in the Middle Ages.

Cleaning Up

After all that mucky business, I would want a bath. Fortunately, people in medieval times bathed more than they are given credit for. There were public bathhouses for the lower ranks. Women in a castle could bathe in groups in a room next to the kitchen. A wooden tub of hot water would be brought to the lord’s chamber for his bath. The water might even be perfumed with flowers or herbs. Soap was made with sheep fat, ashes, and soda. And they cleaned their teeth by scraping with a hazel twig and rubbing with a woolen cloth.

Clothes would be washed with soap and perfumed water too, sometimes. Other times they used urine and ashes to get out stains. Oh well, at least it looked nice.

Wonder

This is only a wee bit of the knowledge I gained in my research. But why waste so many facts on fantasy fiction? Isn’t it just escapist entertainment, and you can make everything up? Well, it’s easier to immerse in a world we can visualize in our minds. Imagination starts with the real and goes from there. It feeds on facts, so we must provide them.

But maybe there’s more value to it than just enjoyment. When our imaginations are engaged, we wonder and see possibilities. Scientists must first imagine what can be possible with the reality they understand before they make new discoveries. And that which cannot be proven yet is called hypothesis, or faith. Perhaps when you envision the unseen you are glimpsing hidden truths. And in fantastic tales, you regularly exercise this invisible sight. So reading my books could expand your mind. Imagine that.