The Adventures of Cochrane Ironcalf

The Adventures of Cochrane Ironcalf burst upon the literary scene in Fellport 180 years ago with the first book in the continuing pulp fiction series "Cochrane Ironcalf and the Pirate Princess". Every few years since then, a new title appears under mysterious circumstances. The author's penname, Oculus Marenatus, spawned much speculation about the author's true identity, but nothing conclusive has ever come to light. The tongue-in-cheek bawdy writing style seems consistent across all the books, implying that perhaps all were written by a single long-lived author or perhaps a generational team of talented humans.

When a new title comes out, boxes of books simply appear in shops, and the proprietors never pay for them, though sometimes their tills end up slightly lighter after they sell most of their copies. Smaller bookshops tend to get more copies a few days before more well-established ones, and more than one shop has turned the corner to profitability after a Cochrane Ironcalf title appears in their stock room. Many printed articles complain about the apparent unfairness of this practice, but nobody seems to hear them. In fact, complainers tend to get overlooked on shipments of the next title, so most bookshops simply fume quietly while raking in the money from these immensely popular trashy novels.

Cochrane Ironcalf stories transparently parody the adventures of Krannock Steelshanks (for those who know him) with the addition of much magical swashbuckling and bodice-ripping. Krannock reads them with fascination, trying to figure out who wrote them and correcting details in the margins. He still complains about them if it comes up in conversation, though most attribute this to his general crankiness.

Enterprising printers have tried to reprint some titles for their own profit, but they invariably have some destructive calamity befall them. Currently 53 titles exist, the most recent (the Succubus Urn) appearing 4 years ago. Fellport awaits a new title with bated breath.

Titles include:

• Cochrane Ironcalf and the Pirate Princess
• Cochrane Ironcalf and the Secret Summoner
• Cochrane Ironcalf meets the Demon Prince of Pleasure
• Cochrane Ironcalf in the Hag's Brothel
• Cochrane Ironcalf and the Huntress of Hearts
• Cochrane Ironcalf, Captive of the Undersea Priestess
• Cochrane Ironcalf and the Succubus Urn

Part of T.W.Wombat's #City23 project. See the Fellport Index for all entries.