Prospectus Logs #17: Touched by a Devil +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | All that lies between heaven and hell, beginning with the expansion of | | a monastery, and ending with a hit on a devil. In between: confirmed | | demons, big fish, faux jade, angry villagers, swarming birds, and | | Moorish assassins. Also, a visit with the Vole Queen. | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Dramatis Personae: Albus of Tytalus Magus (Shannon Appel) Berengarius of Criamon Magus (Eric Rowe) Catorse of Quaesitor Magus (Kevin Wong) Fabricarious of Verditius Magus (Chris Van Horn) Lorum of Merinita Magus (Bill Filios) Risus of Criamon Magus (Shannon as "Dave W.") Viator of Jerbiton Magus (Dave Pickering) Aubrin of Merinita Elder Magus Drake of Bjornaer Elder Magus Forticulus of Flambeau Elder Magus Alifonso Beast Master (Bill as "Shannon") Cugat Fisherman (Dave P. as "John") Subpedes Crazed Weasel Andre Grog Soldier Arnau Grog Private Francis Grog Sergeant Hufar Grog Soldier Michelle Grog Lieutenant Sergio Grog Captain Pancho Grog Peon Torp Grog Soldier Vicent Grog Soldier Adric Plaguing Demon Alondria Alledged Fay Queen Atherik Plagued Demon Big Fish Big Fish Franco Puppeteer Insensius Village Temptressee Maria Village Temptress Renaldo Village Temptressee Rosalito Puppeteerette The Vole Queen Real Fay Queen Walking Tree Walking Tree Story Guide: Eric Rowe - * - The Council Records as recorded by Lucindia the Seneschal January 31, 1216 In attendence: Aubrin, Catorse, Drake, Fabricarious, Forticulus, Frangere, Lorum, Risus, Viator, and Xanti; also myself, Lucindia the Seneschal, and Berengarius, an associate member. Absent: Albus, away on personal business. Quorum was achieved and Aubrin called the meeting to order as elder. Points of Information: * AUBRIN presented a letter written by Albus, who is currently staying at the nearby monastery. Albus states that the monastery is currently undergoing extensive expansion as if it were to become a major pilgrimage site in the years to come. He said he would bring back more information when he returns, in April, but in the meantime wished to make the other magi aware of the issue. Points of Debate: * LORUM suggested we use this situation as an excuse to kill a few Templars. The issue was not seconded. * AUBRIN suggested that we kidnap a lone churchman and probe into his mind for what was going on, but later thought better of it. The vote failed. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Sometimes you can't mind-rape just one." | | "I can stop whenever I want." | | -Aubrin and Berengarius, on Mentalists Anonymous | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ * AUBRIN proposed that we wait until Albus bring back more information before coming to a final decision; There were no objections to this proposal. After Fabricarious and Berengarius engaged in a bout of (successful) chicken-tipping the council meeting was called to an end. - * - Other Records as recorded by Lucindia the Seneschal February 9, 1216 Our new grog captain, Sergio, has appointed his seconds. There are to be two lieutenants, Michelle and Federico, and four sergeants, Roger-Tien, Steven, Rodrigo, and Francis. - * - From The Book of Exile As Dictated by Michelle du Provencal March the Sixth, Second Year of Exile (1216 AD) "Don't drink beverages from wood-chucks." These words were spoke by the lord Viator, and they paint a picture of the new world we have found ourselves, in exile. It is a world of the fantastic--where the devils that have created this world lie nearer than we ever could have suspected. It began this morning, when a demon appeared at our covenant. It named itself Atherik, and it appeared as an elegantly dressed rat. I have heard discussions of this beast before, how the lords were not sure whether it was demon or faerie. They do not understand--there are but two intelligent races in this world, we tortured men and those demons that torment us. This rat came seeking us for aid. He claimed a giant demon fish was plaguing his home, eating all his own provender and leaving him but dust. He said the fish was the sending of another demon, Adric, and begged us to help him. He further tried to assure the lords of the veracity of his claims by stating he had tested this infernalness of this fish with a faerie cup he owned, which had been given to him by his former faerie queen, Alondria. The lords were convinced, and so I assembled a group of grogs: myself, Pancho, Vicent, Hufar, Torp, and Arnau. With us went the fisherman Cugat and five lords: Risus, Lorum, Fabricarious, Catorse, and Viator. It was still early morning when set out up the Ebro, toward the demon's lair. We arrived at Atherik's lair this evening, and Atherik began to ply us with tea and scones; I advised my men not to succumb to this temptation. Before the sun set Catorse and Fabricarious took Pancho and Hufar to go and investigate the fish. Hufar has reported to me that they have located the fish, and that it is a grouper perhaps five foot in length. He reports nothing demonic about the beast. We shall know in the morning; for now, it is time to sleep, to escape this wicked world for a few hours and dream of a better one. - * - From The Book of Exile As Dictated by Michelle du Provencal March the Seventh, Second Year of Exile (1216 AD) "Evil disguised as good, that is the heart of our world." Those were the words of Bernardo, a _prefecti_ I once knew in Provencal, now dead. It is a lesson that was laid out before the lords today, but I doubt they have yet taken it to heart. If only we had a _prefecti_ here, to teach them the truth. Early this morning we went out to watch the fish again. Hufar used his powers to understand the fish and told us it seemed like a content piscine--there were no anger or malignancy in its heart. Risus tried to use his powers to banish the fish but failed, and so stated it was either not demonic or very powerful. Lorum was still suspicious, as we all should be of this world, and so he asked Cugat to catch the fish. With great skill, our head fisherman did. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Call me demon hunter." | | -Cugat, on demons | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Atherik rushed into his tunnels to retrieve more tea and scones, decreeing a celebration, and as he did Risus got a cunning look upon his face. He sat down and began calling up his powers, inscribing a circle around him as he did. I later learned that this was a "Circular Ward Against Demons" that Risus cast. Atherik soon returned from his lair and began distributing food to my fellows. When he tried to run toward Risus he came to an abrupt halt and fell to the ground, as if he had hit an invisible wall. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Oh goddamit, that was probably some kind of good fish." | | -Viator, on choosing sides | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ After that there was little more to do. While Atherik was away Risus explained what had occurred--that Atherik's infernalness had finally been proven beyond a doubt--and so when the demon-rat returned we casually surrounded him. It Viator who shouted the command and afterward we fell upon the demon Atherik. The rat tried to flee, but Hufar struck him a mortal blow. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Check out its hovel to make sure | | it doesn't have the faerie rat tied up." | | -Lorum, on distinct possibilities | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ We searched the rat's hovel afterward and destroyed everything that we found: fine china, a spice rack, and furniture, among other things. We also destroyed the rat's body and a magical cup that it owned--the one it had claimed to have been given by a faerie queen named Alondria. And then we were ready to head home. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "If I coud find his demon haberdashery I'd burn that too." | | -Viator, on exorcism | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ We bring the fish with us. Lorum believes there is some magical power hidden within it. In any case, it should be good eating. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "If we hadn't eaten it, it would have been murder." | | -Lorum, on morals | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - * - From The Book of Exile As Dictated by Michelle du Provencal March the Eleventh, Second Year of Exile (1216 AD) "It must be the enigma." Those words were spoken today by Catorse, and they reflect a concept I do not understand. This enigma is the heart of a religion that some of these lords subscribe to, an unknown secret that lies within the world we see. What is this secret? Does it hide the true fact of our world, that it was created by the devil? I can not say, and I dearly wish we had a _prefecti_ here to advise us, for my own knowledge of Catharism is slight. It all began today when we heard word of a tree marching toward the covenant. I gathered together several warriors and went out with the lords to meet the tree--perhaps 500 yards beyond Bercula. Risus looked upon it and said that the enigma lay within the tree, and asked his fellows not to slay it. He stood there bravely as the tree approached and did not flinch as it marched nearly upon him. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "The world is magic and moving under the tree." | | -Viator, on perspective | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Then, just when we thought it would march right over him, it stopped and rooted itself in the ground. Risus lay down to gaze up at the tree and began to count its leaves and so several of my warriors spent the day, watching over Risus as he tried to discover his enigma in this tree. - * - From Risus' Stuff 1216, Twelfth, March My tree was still there today proudly displaying my enigma and it had not moved, but remained rooted. Berengarius and I looked at it this morning to compare what it was we saw. He could not see the enigma in my tree, but I could not see the enigma in the pebbles hs collected last week as he does on the sixth of every month. All of the enigma is one and none, whole and seperate. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "I wonder what the Engima looks like when it's on fire." | | -Fabricarious, on philosophy | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - * - From The Book of Exile As Dictated by Michelle du Provencal March the Fifteenth, Second Year of Exile (1216 AD) "Can you feel it? Can you touch it? Can you hold it? Where is your anger? It is not a part of you." That was spoken by Bernardo, a Provencal _prefecti_ now long dead. How can we better exemplify this statement than by discovering that anger can be put into us by magical means? I first learned of our newest problems when Viator summoned me to put together an expedition to travel to the local monastery. I gathered five good men: Francis, Torp, Andre, Vicent, and Hufar. In the meantime five lords made their preparations: Fabricarious, Risus, Viator, Lorum, and Catorse. As we prepared I learned what had occurred. The troubles began in our village--Bercula. Some spell had been cast upon it so that this morning our villagers became angry. Only when Risus passed among them did their anger cool. The lords became suspicious when they learned that a group of puppeteers passed through the village last night. They had gone north, to the monastery; we were going to follow them and watch what happened. We arrived at the monastery after a few hours' brisk travel and watched the puppeteers give a show. Moors foully murdered Christians in their sleep, and then Crusaders slew them in just vengeance. We watched it three times in all, the whole time hoping to see something suspicious. But, there was no sorcery, just a play. Eventually we made camp. Tomorrow we will see if the Templars and their monastery have been driven mad. - * - From The Book of Exile As Dictated by Michelle du Provencal March the Sixteenth, Second Year of Exile (1216 AD) "If we succumb it is weakness, not only in ourself, but also in this damned world." My friend Pierre spoke that and it is a Cathar belief. We _credentes_ too believe in sin and punishment, but we understand it is a natural part of the world. The world is evil, and it daily bathes us in its malignant influence. Only the strong stay pure. There was no chaos in the monastery this morning, so we returned home. The puppeteer lead had led now where. Back home we found that Bercula had once more succumbed to anger. We began to investigate at once, and soon found ourselves embroiled in an affair of the heart. A man named Insensius approached us quietly; he told us that he had heard chanting from the small, stone hut of another villager, Renaldo. We investigated Renaldo's hut, and 'lo, we found diabolic symbols everywhere. But, all was not as it seemed. We brought in Berengarius and had him peer into Renaldo's mind. There was fear there, but no belief that he had done wrong, or at least no certainty. So next we went to talk to Insensius again. Viator talked kindly with him and convinced him to reveal the truth--that he and Renaldo were both wooing a woman named Maria, and that Insensius had planted that diabolic evidence in Renaldo's hut--using symbols copied from a covenant book--to try and get Renaldo exiled or killed. Risus realized that the anger spell had caused this. The lords decided to punish Insensius with a few days' hard labor, but nothing more. Renaldo was let go, and Risus offered him ale in apology. Still, we are no closer to discovering the source of Bercula's anger. - * - From Risus' Stuff 1216, Seventeenth, March When I went down to Bercula this morning everyone was angry again, but I smiled and waved and soon they were all happy for the sight of me. Aubrin came down and made me think about what might be causing this all and I decided to search where the puppeteers with their puppets of Moors killing Christians that don't always act the same way stayed. There was a hole there and so I dug and soon discovered a jade statue that was actually faux jade. As Fabricarious pointed out it looked just like me and I worried that it might have a part of my soul in it. So of course I put it in my tree. I watched it for a while but then the grogs offered to guard it so I left. The villagers aren't angry any more, but that means I can't make them happy every morning. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "The only thing worse than being plagued by a demon | | is being plagued by cheap demons." | | -Fabricarious, on infernal economics | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - * - From The Book of Exile As Dictated by Michelle du Provencal March the Nineteenth, Second Year of Exile (1216 AD) "You only give me diabolic things." That was said by Catorse, and it was a joke, but if taken at face value it reveals a truth of the universe. Our world is created by the devil, and so everything we own and everything we are, except our immortal soul, is diabolic. This is why we should not hold on too tightly to things in this world, but rather should achieve perfection for the next one. We went on a trip yesterday evening, myself and five of my men, as well as Viator, Berengarious, and Fabricarious. We flew through the air, Viator in the lead with the rest of us trailing behind. It was uncomfortable but necessary. Twenty-five miles north we came to the village where we sure the puppeteers were staying. After Risus' discovery we were once more convinced of their guilt. We questioned them all: Franco, his wife Rosalito, and their son. We searched their wagon too, and Berengarius looked into their minds. At first Berengarius thought the wife might be guilty, but later he decided he had been mistaken. Neither Berengarius' mind powers nor Viator's lordly presence was able to shake a confession from the puppeteers. In the end Berengarius erased their minds of our encounter and we took off, headed back toward the covenant, once more through the sky. We arrived back around dawn. Afterward the demonic jade statue was turned over to Catorse, and that's when he offered the quote that I started today's entry with. - * - Aubrin's Memoirs March 21, 1216 Again we were beset today, and I must finally conclude that it is the demon Adric who is at the heart of this new set of troubles, for every one has centered around Risus. It has been two years since that fiend was last seen, but clearly he has not forgotten us. Today it was birds, hundreds of them, diving upon our covenant and leaving their refuse behind. Drake went to talk to them, and learned that they were beset by urges they could not control. We found another of those jade statues, this one depicting a bird, and sure enough it was in Risus' quarters. When we removed the statue all of our problems instantly went away. The only good of this is that Forticulus shot down a few gulls before they left, and so we'll eat well tonight, but it will be no consolation as we live with the stink of the covenant in the coming week. I do not know what we should do about this demon that we can never see and walks in and out of our covenant with impunity! - * - Alifonso's Stories As Told to the Pretty Young Ladies of Bercula On March 24, 1216 This new story, you shall like it, for it is full of animals, warm, furry, and cute. It all started two days ago, after that awful bird attack our covenant faced. I do not mean to offend your sensibilities, but I am sure you can still smell it, yes? Jose doesn't like it much either. Anyway, after that Lord Viator gets this great idea that he can fix the crazed weasel that hangs around the covenant. You've seen me with it, no doubt, fixing the poor thing's hurts, or trying to convince it not to drown itself in the river. Poor, demented beast, or at least it was. In any case, Viator decided to head an expedition out to see the Vole Queen. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "I've talked the weasel down many a time." | | -Alifonso, on suicide prevention | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ There were just four of us, myself, Viator, the weasel, and Viator's young grog, Arnau. You remember him, I'm sure. What was it, a year ago, that he was still playing in these very streets. The Vole Queen lives in a hollow tree, and we were greeted at its entrance by two wolves. No, not as handsome as Jose, of course. They made us swear not to eat any other animals inside, then they let us in, and we found there was a whole world inside the tree, a labyrinth, and we passed many rooms full of animals. There were all types. Some were just normal animals. Some were gigantic. A few were intelligent, and wore clothes and acted like people. I swear, that's the truth. Eventually we were brought to the Vole Queen's court and we found a whole room of animals talking with each other. They were complaining about all these rains that we have had lately and the floods and other problems that were the result, and they were all talking like friends, not like rulers and subjects. The Vole Queen greeted us at once when she saw us, and she readily agreed to help the poor weasel, and she passed her hands over him, and spoke quietly, and that mad light went out of his eyes. He was calm and sensible afterward and he even revealed his name, Subpedes. I was so pleased that I almost cried. No shame there, I almost did. We had a nice feast afterward, greenery and fish, which aren't animals I guess. I talked to the Vole Queen the whole time and she was very kind and told me lots about healing animals. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Even an alcoholic weasel can't drink that much." | | -anonymous, on covenant supplies | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ And then afterward we headed home. The Vole Queen was a wonderful lady, and I dearly hope I see her again! - * - From Risus' Stuff March 25, 1216 DO NOT READ!!!! YOU HAVE FORGOTTEN THIS!!! Today I was looking out the window to see what Berengarius' chickens were doing and if they might have the enigma in them too when Julio brought two big, strong, scary-looking Moors in. They bowed to me, and so I bowed to them to be fair, and then they gave me a note to say that they were a present from lord Adric in return for killing Atheric and would I like them to kill someone? I didn't really, but they thought I was Adric or he was me, because he was still pretending to be me and has set up some type of kingdom in my name in southern Castille, so I decided to use that to my advantage. I told them to go and kill me, but only in my kingdom down there in Castille, and then to report back to me, but here in Prospectus Locus where they can't kill me, and tell me what happened, and I also told them not to listen to whatever I said down in Castille because that would just be the false Risus because that was the trick the demon used on the beaver. So they said OK and left. I'm now going to go to Berengarius and ask him to erase this whole memory for me. SO DON'T READ THIS OR YOU'LL REMEMBER!!! - * - From Risus' Stuff March 25, 1216 I found myself in Berengarius' lab today and he said I shouldn't go to southern Castille but wouldn't say why, so we talked about the enigma instead and his chickens and pebbles and my tree. We could not agree what comes first, the Enigma or the egg.