A holy quest to save a great relic of Christianity. Also, dark visions, mad Templars, and floating magi. The morality of violence as a last resort, and the predictability of thieves.

Dramatis Personae

Guest Author: Kevin Wong (Catorse's Personal Log)

Gamemaster: Bill Filios

A Chronology: Interactions with Baron Zelipe

• May 15, 1213 - Albus and Risus meet Zelipe while chasing a murderous monk. They fail to impress him when the criminal nearly escapes. Prospectus Logs #1, "A Wolf in the Fold"
  
  
• November 3, 1213 - Magi of Prospectus Locus are summoned to Baron Zelipe's manor to help deal with his daughter's epilepsy.
  
  
• November 4, 1213 - Zila falls in love with Risus due to a spell cast by Furfures of Tytalus. Prospectus Logs #3, "Zelipe's Request"
  
  
• November 13, 1213 - Risus receives first letter from Zilia, initiating several visits by Risus to Zelipe's manor and several visits by the Zilias to Prospectus Locus. Prospectus Logs #4, "I'd Like to be Under the Sea"
  
  
• July 3, 1214 - Risus receives a letter from Lord Zelipe hinting at marriage to Zilia. Docilli certamens Risus to prevent marriage unless there is truly love. Prospectus Logs #7, "The Dark Flame Quenched"

Albus' Dialogues
July 28, 1214
Early Evening

An odd event this afternoon. It occurred after Lucindia's scribing class. I was standing upon the wall. Gazing across the Ebro with very little on my mind. I noticed the entire sky grow black as if an enormous storm has suddenly materialized. I commented on it to Julio but he saw nothing. Just as I prepared to find my sodales it disappeared. Perhaps it was something only the gifted could see. Or perhaps it was incipient heat stroke. I do not know. No one else seems to have perceived anything amiss.

Aubrin's Memoirs
August 2, 1214

Just a month ago Forticulus was forced to reject the idea of a possible marriage between Zilia and Risus due to a number of forces that were beyond his control, prime among them the various views of Risus and Docilli. Now it appears that we have been given a reprieve, and that the blossoming friendship between ourself and our nearest lord may be given a new chance to grow.

Lord Zelipe appeared at the covenant today with five men-at-arms, something I had been hoping would occur in all honesty. He talked of a number of minor matters, such as whether we could engage in a joint investment at some future time, suggesting breweries, vineyards, and trained animals. The true purpose of his visit, however, was to discuss his daughter.

He expressed regret over Risus' insuitability for marriage, and queried who my heir was. I said it had not been decided yet, but that we were planning to discuss it this very evening, and expressed that the heir might while be interested in marriage to Zilia. Zelipe seemed pleased with this, and asked if it would be acceptable for him to stay the evening, so that he could hear the results. I agreed, put him up in our guest houses, and then called a council meeting at once.

Our main point of discussion at the council was whether anyone would be interested in marrying Zilia, although Docilli also introduced a number of other important issues, of course. Albus, Fabricarious, Lorum, and Viator all have gentle gifts, so they all seemed possibilities. In the end we determined that Viator would best be able to carry on the duties of the Baron of Prospectus Locus, and fortunately he was willing to marry Zilia, so our decision was made.

I will draw up the papers to make "Paulo" the heir to the Barony of Prospectus Locus, and send them at once to the paper pushers of our young boy king. Tomorrow Viator and I will speak with Zelipe, and arrange the beginning of a courtship. We must be sure the girl will not react poorly when she learns we are magi, but if this can be finessed correctly, the marriage will go forth, for it will be beneficial for our covenant, as we will have a friend in a local lord.

Aubrin's Memoirs
August 3, 1214

The meeting between Viator and Zelipe went as well as I had hoped, and we have arranged for him to meet Zilia as a suitor in just over a month's time, on September 7.

Albus' Dialogues
August 5, 1214
Morning

I had thought--hoped--that She had abandoned me for the Abbot. That day--last May--She appeared to me. The abbot fell down before us. And then She was gone. When we visited him last February She was at his side. She fed him power. Changing a lead amulet to gold. I thought She had become his. But She has not given up on me.

She came to me in my dreams. Her golden hair. Her alabaster skin. Her all-enfolding wings. It could have been no other. She stood to my dexter side. As always. And she whispered into my ear.

"You have been studying the joining of Heaven and Earth," she said. She was talking of relics. Referring to those letters I sent out mid-winter. Her statement relates to an ecclesiastical belief I read of in my theology texts. It says that Grace is left behind on items touched by the Saints. Thus when they ascend to Heaven these relics form a sort of gateway.

Her words continued. "I will not help you in this quest, but will give you something better. One of these ties to Heaven is to be broken. You must save the Napkin of God in Oviedo. And so you will gain respect in the Church. You must be able to defeat the force of eight men-at-arms."

And as she spoke my mind was filled with visions. I sat up in my bed, but it was not in my sanctum. Rather it was in the middle of a cathedral. The sun shone in from all directions. Through all windows. And it reflected off of every surface. It was blinding. Far in the distance I could see a golden box. I was sure the Napkin of God was within.

And so I awoke. I took a moment to gather my thoughts. To remember what I had seen. To make connections. I had to look on the maps in Risus' room to see Oviedo was in northern Castile. A good three weeks' journey. I knew about the Napkin of God. It was mentioned to me by a magus at Victrix who responded to me query on relics. It is said to be a cloth which was laid across the Christ's head. It is spotted with his blood. It resides in Oviedo, and is one of the greatest relics in Christiandom.

For moments I was unsure of what to do. I was reluctant to do Her biding. It was clearly a task that would benefit Her and Her kind. Worse it is still the height of summer. My magic will be useless. No doubt She knows this. Perhaps she seeks to prove that I can succeed without it.

Still, this task will also give me desireable results. I will learn more of the church. I will gain respect from its members--if She is to believed. I will prove myself equal to a task that the church cannot undertake. I believe it is the last that decided me.

I will gather magi--and eight grogs--and be off.

Catorse's Personal Log
August 5 - The Year of Our Lord 1214

Albus says he had a vision. So now we head to Oviedo to save the Napkin of God. Albus does not know how it is in danger but his angel told him to go so he goes. Being good Christians, Fabricarius and I are compelled to go. Albus has also convinced Viator to meet us in Oviedo in three weeks, when we are due to arrive.

Catorse's Personal Log
August 31 - The Year of Our Lord 1214

We arrived at Oviedo only four days late. Albus couldn't stand the oppressive heat and had us wait out a few of the hottest days. Fabricarius and I could not convince him to travel on those days. In truth, they were hot days, but I have lived here almost all my life and I am used to ignoring the heat. Fabricarius also has experience with hot days from his time in the Holy Land.

Albus' Dialogues
August 31, 1214
Evening

Despite the awful heat of the plateau the last weeks have been interesting. For the first time I have seen more of Iberia than the northeast corner. Wholely educational. In the future I must try not to do it in summer.

Oviedo is a fair-sized city. A port. The cathedral was large and easy to find. Much to my relief it was familiar--from my dream. I can not even think how embarrassed I would have been had I been led astray.

At first I thought the crime was still pending. So I sent out my sodales and grogs to measure the temperature of the town. (Not as hot as the central plateau.) Slim spoke with the members of the Oviedo underworld. Hufar with the arabs. Fabricarious with the priests. Viator with the nobles. Catorse watched the christians to see if any acted unusual.

I stayed in the cathedral. Meditating upon my quest and the scene around me. It was the first time I have actually considered a church closely. It is very different from reading the texts. Watching pilgrims praying. Lighting candles. Kissing the ground of the church. I did not know whether to be awed or disgusted by the extreme devotion I saw.

It was Viator who brought back the most interesting piece of information. He said that Templars had been in Oviedo up to six days ago. And that they had prayed in the cathedral the entire night before they left.

The Napkin is held in a small room off the main cathedral. There is one guard before the door at all times. The Napkin is only brought out by the Bishop on ceremonial occasions. Or by his second, Father Jeronimo. Despite these precautions the fact of the Knights spending the night in the cathedral set off all my danger alarms. I became convinced that the Napkin had been stolen that night--six nights ago--by the Knights Templar.

Catorse's Personal Log
August 31 - The Year of Our Lord 1214 (continued)

Once in Oviedo, Albus had us go out and investigate. Being a Quaesitor, I of course have no investigative skills whatsoever--a personal flaw which I will have to rectify some day. Luckily, the others were able to piece together what happened: some Templars had stolen the Napkin six days ago. We now leave in pursuit...

Albus' Dialogues
August 31, 1214
Evening (continued)

I was able to confirm my theory with additional investigatory work. First I confirmed that the Napkin had not been seen in four weeks. The last time it was displayed was just before the Bishop left for Barcelona.

So I made my way to speak with Father Jeronimo. I was open and honest with him. I explained my vision. I told him I felt sure the Napkin was gone. He did not seem a particularly religious man. He made light of my vision. But, no doubt he hears of many. Nonetheless he decided to look into the matter, to view the Napkin and be sure it was still present. Moments later he was back--carrying a golden box--exclaiming, "How did you know?" I explained it to him. Again.

I brought Viator in to question the seven men who sometimes guard the relic. Jeronimo was willing to accept his help thanks to Viator's new position--heir to a Barony. We verified that the Templars were the thieves. Segundo--the man guarding that night--had been given wine by the Templars, become drunk, and fallen unconscious. It gave the Templars a perfect opportunity. I assured Jeronimo I would deal with this problem and return the Napkin to him if I could. He was kind enough to write us a few letters saying we were on church business--working for the Bishop. Then we were off.

We did a little bit more grunt work this evening. Viator flew south to the next village south to verify the Templars had gone that way. They had. The rest of us caroused our way through town looking for more info. We found that the Templars had loose lips. They had talked about splitting up down the road and sending a diversionary force on to Barcelona while the rest of them went in another direction.

Viator has just returned and we have decided how we will continue. Unfortunately Jeronimo did not have enough horses for all of us--we brought only three from the covenant. The Templars have a six day lead on us, which seems almost insurmountable. But we have a plan. Viator shall make us all weightless and drag us through the sky. It will be undignified but it seems necessary. We believe we can gain thirty of forty miles a day. We will be off shortly, as soon as Viator has rested a bit. We plan to make Poladelana before dusk.

There are fifteen men in the group we follow--three actual Templars and twelve men-at-arms. One of the Templars--a man named Clement--is particularly large. It appears they travel at night, which is why we did not see them in passing on our way here. They should be easy to track, at least until they split up.

Albus' Dialogues
September 1, 1214
Evening

We are in Leon tonight. Still the Templars run ahead of us. They are making tremendous time. But we are drawing closer.

Albus' Dialogues
September 2, 1214
Evening

We are now in Carrion de los Condes. We have discovered that the Templars are just one day ahead of us. We can catch them if we travel through the night. We plan to do so.

Albus' Dialogues
September 2, 1214
Midnight

Somehow I managed to catch scant moments of sleep as we soared through the sky this evening. I do not think my fellows can say the same. No doubt it is the soothing cold of the night wind. We are outside Burgos. A huge town. Viator spoke with the guards here. He discovered that the Templars split up in this city. Seven are headed to Barcelona. Eight toward Miranda del Ebro--a town on the Ebro. It is good we decided to travel through the night. Our prey may be at a boat by dawn.

Albus' Dialogues
September 3, 1214
Morning

When dawn came this morning the lot of us floated to the ground, Viator;s spell undone. We were outside Miranda del Ebro where we hoped our prey lay.

At my instruction Viator had already spoken with the guards. Waking their captain no doubt. He showed them our ecclesiastical papers and explained that we expected the people we were hunting to arrive around dawn. We wanted the guards to give them rooms, and then help us apprehend them. Unfortunately our expectations were incorrect, but only slightly.

Only two men appeared in Miranda this morning. But they were both mercenaries of the Templars. Fabricarious actually recognised one. A man named Steven. They had fought together at Antioch.

We apprehended the men without problem. Between grogs and guards we outnumbered them ten to one. They would have been foolish to fight.

It took several moments to get straight answers from the men. Finally we did. We learned that the other six men are on a boat a mile downriver. The Avenging Angel. Clement and Paul--two of the Templars--are leading them. They simply wait for a few supplies--which our two prisoners were supposed to acquire after a little rest--before casting off. We are just barely in time.

We head downriver at once.

Catorse's Personal Log
September 3 - The Year of Our Lord 1214

Today we caught up with the Templars. Our mode of travel was unusual to say the least. Viator cast his "floating" spell and dragged our whole group of eleven like a group of balloons. It was a necessity to make up the distance to the Templars. With very few miscues we found the Templar band on a river boat, resting.

Albus' Dialogues
September 3, 1214
Midday

When first we approached The Avenging Angel I could not believe my eyes. I knew at once I had seen the boat before. It was just over a month ago. I was staring out across the Ebro. And the sky blackened. Only I could see the darkness. That was when the Avenging Angel passed by our covenant. It headed upriver.

Catorse's Personal Log
September 3 - The Year of Our Lord 1214 (continued)

There were six Templars and we numbered twelve. We would have almost no magical help which meant we would have a difficult fight if it came to that. Albus confronted Clement, the Templar leader, and told him to return the relic in return for their freedom. They had nowhere to go since we had told the nearby communities to apprehend them.

Clement refused to deal; indeed, he sounded fanatical. The other Templars seemed unsure and, with Fabricarius' urgings--for he knew some of the Templars, they mutinied and pushed Clement off the boat. At this point we tried to subdue Clement--Viator not wanting anyone to get hurt, even this sacrilegious cretin.

Clement is a formidable warrior and kept our forces at bay while spouting that God was on his side. With a sudden thought, I cast a spell (unnoticed) and spoke the words "Give Up" into Clement's mind. Clement gave up then, saying that God had told him to surrender. With the violence ended, we retrieved the relic and let the Templars go. The others remarked at the sudden reversal--I didn't feel the need to inform them of my action.

Albus' Dialogues
September 3, 1214
Midday (continued)

As Clement's sword dropped to the ground, suddenly I was beset by a vision. I believe it was sent by Her, but I am unsure. Never has She been so powerful to plague me in the day. Also, I did not sense Her presence.

I was in a pit, digging. Above me stood a Templar. He looked down. As I dug I uncovered a sack. It was what I had been seeking. I pulled it free and handed it up to the Templar. Then I climbed out of the pit. Suddenly we were beset by Moors. I despaired. If only we had stayed in Carthage, I thought. I saw the Templar fall. Then a blade cut across my back, and I too dropped to the ground. My life bled out of me. I died.

When I returned to myself I was confused. No time had passed. No blade had cut across my back. It had been a vision of another. Elsewhere. I stuttered out questions to the Templars. I asked about their fellow whom I had seen. Clement recognized my description. It was a man named Fayez. An Egyptian Templar. The vision confuses me. I do not know why I have seen it, but I am sure it is important. It must be Her sending. It could have been no other's.

Catorse's Personal Log
September 3 - The Year of Our Lord 1214 (continued)

We will head back to Oviedo to return the relic before heading back to Prospectus Locus. Another mission well done. Impressively, Albus handled himself well in the leadership role. Fabricarius was somewhat useful. Viator was of great use, although I dislike his extreme views on not killing people. Given a choice, I would not have Viator on any mission I lead.

Forticulus' Hastily Scribbled Notes
7 September 1214

I was damned certain we'd made a mistake choosing Viator as heir, but I was too untrusting of the boy. He breezed in here today like nothing was wrong in the world, just in time for his meeting with Zelipe and Zilia.

Afterward I quizzed him to learn how things had gone. Well enough. The girl brat is still infatuated with the Criamon, gods know why, but Viator will break down her reserve, and that of her fool mother. Viator has done a good job it seems. Damn that Bonisagus for forcing this setback, and woe to him if he tries to destroy our plans a second time.

Albus' Dialogues
September 13, 1214
Early Evening

I envy Viator his flight. After winning back the Napkin he flew down to Prospectus Locus to keep an appointment. Then he managed to catch up with us before we made it back to Oviedo. I must learn that spell, but it is still unfortunately beyond me. By being a generalist I defer the mastery of my arts. Still, in the end, I will be skilled in all things. Viator knows Rego, but what else?

Viator officially presented the Napking to Father Jeronimo on behalf of Lord Alberto of the Ebro. I fear the ceremony was lost on the clergyman. He returned it at once to its place of honor--its golden box. Then he kneeled down to pray. Out of politness I and the other magi joined him.

No sooner had I closed my eyes than I was beset by another vision.

I was a Roman solider this time. Standing in the garden of Gethsemane. I saw Judas, the Christian betrayer. Nearby stood their savior, the Christ. And upon Judas' belt was the very bag I had seen unearthed. Judas moved forward to embrace the Christ, his betrayal just an instant away.

When Jesus had spoken these words, he went forth with his disciples across the Kidron valley, where there was a garden, which he and his disciples entered. Now Judas, who betrayed him, also knew the place; for Jesus often met there with his disciples. So Judas, procuring a band of soldiers and some officers from the chief priests and the Pharisees, went there with lanterns and torches and weapons. (John 18:1-3)

My earlier vision came into clear focus. I suddenly knew that I had seen a relic of great power. I have no doubt the pouch contained the thirty coins of silver which Judas had accepted to betray the Christ.

Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and said, "What will you give me if I deliver him to you?" And they paid him thirty pieces of silver. (Matthew 26:14-15)

After we prayed we stayed with the father for a time. There was a fine feast. Good food. A letter of commendation in the bishop's name. Eventually we took our leave.

The whole time my mind whirred. Could Judas' thirty coins truly be a Christian relic? Or do they hold infernal power? Who has granted me this vision, angel or demon? I am disturbed but I must push forward. When I arrive home I will begin new researches into this.

Aubrin's Memoirs
September 22, 1214

Lorum is off today after receiving a succinct summons from the May Queen, something I suspect has to do with the visit of her subject, Dervin, a few months ago. I hope she is not angry at his desertion, for we not only value her friendship, but we also owe Dervin a debt for the aid that he gave to us.

Albus' Dialogues
September 28, 1214
Early Evening

Finally we are home again. I had forgotten of the joys of travel. Waking every morning in a different place. It is why I journeyed after leaving home almost two years ago. It is a glorious feeling. With fall now upon us I feel invigorated. It is with regret that I take my place once more in my quarters--when that siren call upon me.

My studies of scribery had been utterly ruined by my journey. I cannot bring myself to truly care. I will write letters this evening trying to get information on Fayez. I must know if his death is in the past or future. Then, I am unsure. I have not yet decided how to approach this new matter. Care is required.

Albus' Book of Rules

I have been reminded lately of all the rules my pater taught me. Avitus' rules--as he used to call them.

Be erudite, for others judge you by your words. A moment of caution is a small investment with large rewards. Control your emotions lest others use them against you. Respect your limitations, for your limitations will not respect you.

He had wit and wisdom for every occasion.

Someday I must take an apprentice of my own. To pass on the ways of Tytalus. And Avitus and Olennius and Ludwig. And Albus. Thus I have begun the composition of this book. My own book of rules. I will not--cannot--be as carefully learned as Avitus was. I can only pass on the foibles I see in life. Things that are true by their oddness--odd by their truth.

Albus' Rules

1. A strong leader is worth a dozen followers.

2. Violence is but one course of action among hundreds for resolving disputes; success results from choosing the most appropriate method.

3. Thieves always end up on boats.

Go to Log #9