The Lovers Touch

Distrykt
Klonasfer
Gwome
cKalloir
Rezhn
kNow Estrelliia
dedication date
08/08/2008

Linear Location
In the Car Park, ECA, Edinburgh, Scotland, UK (55°56'45"N 3°11'47"W)

Overview

This location is, in a sense, the linchpin that pulled Nobunaga-Ventreven into path of Kmpass, the Urgend God of Directionality. Given the nature of Kmpass’ plans, it was probably inevitable that Nobunaga-Ventreven would have been drawn into it (as Mlates already had been), but it is hard to imagine him having as passionate stake in the matter as he had after finding his losaana.

Access

Access is up EITHER up the steps at the southwest end of the Grassmarket in Edinburgh (linear Scotland). The steps turn into the Vennel. OR you can come from Lauriston Place, go down (north) Heriot Place to just past where it intersects with Keir Street. After that it turns into the Vennel. In any event, you’ll see a fence around a Car Park, on the west side of the Vennel. The Vennel is a cobblestone walkway between the steps and Heriot Place. And the plaque is just inside the fence of the ECA (Edinburgh College of Art) Car Park.

Public Dedication

This plaque, honoring one of the most romantic of the stories of Kcymaerxthaere, had a very dramatic installation story as well. We were fortunate to install The Lovers Touch plaque during the legendary Edinburgh Fringe Festival (2008) in conjunction with the Edinburgh College of Art and Sweet Venues—commemorating it with a 17 part dedication (including group singalongs). So, in a sense, the dedication was only complete at the end of the run. Working with local craftsman, Craig M., we installed the plaque. In the process, a number of local couples read the story and shared the way they had met up. Some even said it reminded them of how they had met each other, which, when you read the plaque, is really something! Nevertheless, it gave quite a wonderful spirit to the day–one that lulled us into a false sense of security. In fact, while the cement was drying, we saw another couple reading the plaque. Wishing to give them some private time, we turned our backs to throw some trash away. At that point, the man ripped the plaque from the wet cement. Fortunately, our craftsman was also (unbeknownst to us) a law enforcement officer who placed the vandal under arrest. There was an attempt to escape — and a chase into the Grassmarket. Net result: eventual arrest and Craig. M.’s determination to avoid a repeat—thus the 1-ton base currently in use.

This was Kcymaerxthaere installation #042 and the fifth in what we call the United Kingdom.

Text of the Marker

The part of the story installed here:

The Lovers Touch

Where Nobunaga-Ventreven and Mlates gi Dunhuira first push-pulled each other into the shadows to hold and see each other close is not precisely known, but it is believed to have happened close to this spot. Nobunaga had started his travel round what we would call the Earth over a year before. For her part, Mlates was weary from the epic Unsoiling of Rockall, which had left the town unvenneled, its waters landfilled and its soul quite changed. On the day he provisioned for Bravenleavanne, she awoke much earlier than ever—so both were at the market stalls just after dawn. That chance connection, much celebrated in song and poem since, was a flash of trust and lust, real and clear. He surprised himself by leading her after that one glimpse to the place honored here—a bit hidden, “not far from the last Vennel.” Concealed, they stilled and, in the lilting local Cognate dialect, she spoke her famous words “Devoray elt devarow”—essentially, “Once you kiss me, you cannot unkiss me.” They both smiled as it was far too late: they were losaana already—their twinned fates one, and their troth soon to be tested by Kmpass, the Urgend God of Directionality.