Nicolette Villom

Nicolette Villom in 1138.

Nicolette Villom was a barmaid in Vyones Tavern and the object of Blaise Reynard's lust.

History

Nicolette Villom was the barmaid in a tavern owned by her father, and appeared to be romantically involved with Raoul Coupain. Blaise Reynard was often a patron of the tavern and Nicolette treated him with kindness - even asking that he refer to her by first name instead of the more formal "Mademoiselle Villom". She even asked her father to intervene when Gerome Mazzal and Guillaume Maspier appeared to bully Reynard over Mazzal gaining Reynard's lost contract with the village.

Nicolette was horrified when Raoul informed them of Mazzal and Maspier's brutal murders - but when she embraced Raoul in front of Reynard, Satyre appeared and abducted the woman bringing her to the Reynard House where Grimalkin had murdered Reynard's wife, Heloise. Barely conscious, the two stone golems accused Reynard of wanting this.

By the following morning, the stone golems had been destroyed and Reynard was also dead. Nicolette cradled the now orphaned Martin-Pêcheur Reynard in her arms. ("For Not Everything With Wings...")

Characteristics

Nicolette was a kind and nurturing woman. She comforted Blaise Reynard when he was clearly in distress, albeit unaware of the depths of his darkness and his lust for her. Despite being probably aware that Blaise's obsession with her led to the deaths of three people as well as Blaise himself, she still took the time to comfort Blaise's orphaned son.

Appearances

• "For Not Everything With Wings..." (First Appearance)

Real World Background

In Clark Ashton Smith's short story "The Maker of Gargolyes", Nicolette Villom works as a barmaid in her father's tavern in the medieval French town of Vyones, where she endures the unwanted advances of embittered carver of stone gargoyles, Blaise Reynard. She enjoys a far more reciprocal flirtation with the young mercer's assistant, Raoul Coupain, which only further inflames Reynard's murderous jealousy. In the original story's penultimate scene, the helpless Nicolette suffers an implied assault at the hands of one of Reynard's mysteriously animated creations; a stone gargoyle carved in the image of a leering horned satyr and imbued with the sculptor's own bestial lust.

See Also

• “The Maker of Gargoyles” by Clark Ashton smith