Prospectus Logs #21: A Lost World +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Of a request made by the Vole Queen and the quest that it leads to. | | Mad beavers, scaredy rats, and other assorted critters. Also, goblins | | and their fierce mounts. | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Dramatis Personae: Berengarius of Criamon Magus (Eric Rowe) Catorse of Guernicus The Quaesitor (Kevin Wong) Lorum of Merinita Magus (Bill Filios) Viator of Jerbiton Magus (Chris as "Dave P.") Xanti Ex. Misc. Magus (John Tomasetti) Aubrin of Merinita Elder Magus Drake of Bjornaer Elder Magus Forticulus of Flambeau Elder Magus Aitor Grog Andre Grog Hufar Grog Michelle Grog Roger-Tien Grog Torp Grog Narsian Ex. Misc Sansaron Magus Vole Queen Faerie Queen Game Master: Shannon Appel - * - Aubrin's Memoirs July 1, 1216 Forticulus finally returned today from his sojourn to Interritus with the distressing announcement that it seems that the Flambeau there have been successful in their bid for the Domus Magnus. How this will affect us I cannot guess, but I must believe it bodes ill. - * - Aubrin's Memoirs July 18, 1216 Good word today, from Ansalek of Jerbiton over at the covenant of Plateau. In exchange for our 1221 vote for the movement of Plateau he will attend Viator's wedding this November and cast any Mentem magics that become necessary to ensure the bride's proper state of mind, even supplying the vis himself. He says that he "hopes this will signal a new era of friendship between Prospectus Locus and Plateau-at-Andalusia." We shall see. - * - The Council Records as recorded by Lucindia the Seneschal August 24, 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, currently unable to enter the covenant. Quorum was achieved and Aubrin called the meeting to order as elder. Points of Information: * AUBRIN stated that the Vole Queen has agreed to cast a new fertility ritual upon Prospectus Locus just prior to Viator's wedding in exchange for a group of magi attending to a problem for her: dealing with some marauding goblins. Xanti has agreed to lead this mission in approximately a week's time. Points of Debate: * BERENGARIUS brought up the possibility of using the former mud men lair, which has a higher aura than the rest of the covenant, as a lab. After a vote this issue was accepted and Berengarius will be moving to the mud man lab very soon. As a result, Xanti will soon move into Berengarius' former lab, giving Viator the entire top floor of the second lab building well in advance of his wedding. Construction of the third floor of the new (third) lab building will be modified to include a roof, and Xanti will move there when it is done, opening up one free lab on the second floor of the new lab building early next year. - * - From The Book of Exile As Dictated by Michelle du Provencal September the First, Second Year of Exile (1216 AD) "My feet swear homage to you." Those words were spoken by the lord Berengarius, and they show how simply we may fall into the traps of spirituality that lie upon this cursed realm. This morning I was finally able to complete preparations for our latest journey, a trip to see the one known as the Vole Queen, and accept a mission from her. There were four lords who led this journey: Xanti, Lorum, Berengarius, and Viator. I choose Aitor, Andre, Roger-Tien, Hufar, and Torp to join me. The trip to the Vole Queen's realm was short enough, an all-day journey down the Iberian coast. Without problem we arrived at the entrance to the Vole Queen's realm, a tree guarded by two bears. We were invited in, one of the bears leading the way, and soon we found that the inside of the tree was much larger than what lay without. We saw all manner of strangeness as we walked toward the Vole Queen's actual court. A great variety of animals engaged in human activities, speaking, debating, gaming, and dressing in clothes. The lords were especially entranced by a play we passed, and we stopped for an hour to watch the performance. It all seemed a mockery of humanity put on by the dark forces. Eventually we came to the Vole Queen's court. Though the dining hour had already passed, she ordered her servants to prepare a new feast, and soon we ate well of greeneries and fish. I felt nervous to let my men eat these foods, but truly there was no choice without utterly breaching hospitality. There was conversation during the meal, and it began with the Vole Queen explaining our expedition. There is a group of marauding goblins living a day to the north who are harassing the Vole Queen's subjects, and we are to put an end to that problem. In addition a few of the Vole Queen's subjects have been captured, and if we are able we are to free them. We have been provided with a map to the goblin's tiny village. It seems very odd, helping demons fighting demons, but we shall do what we must. The Vole Queen also spoke of some politics that I do not entirely understand, saying that Prospectus Locus is playing a dangerous game by allying itself in various ways with the four great faerie lords of this land. Truly, any alliance with these dark powers endangers us, but the lords did not see it this way; this is when Berengarius had his feet--his chicken feet--offer alliance to the Vole Queen. Later, as we prepared to sleep for the night in a hollow within that huge tree, Viator mentioned that Berengarius had learned an additional fact of some interest from the Vole Queen. It seems that she knows of the stone lions that have so recently caused us problems at Prospectus Locus, that she said that they had chased her out of an ancient place of power long ago. In addition we now know that there are five in all, though we have only seen three. It now grows late. Though the magi think we are safe, I have ordered my warriors to keep watch. It is a dark place in which we dwell. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Let's see one of them cast a spell." | | "Yeah, let's see you build a barn." | | -Xanti and Berengarius, on the uses of mundanes | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - * - From The Book of Exile As Dictated by Michelle du Provencal September the Second, Second Year of Exile (1216 AD) "A sufficient show of force will discourage any enemy." Those words were spoken by my old friend, Pierre. Unfortunately for him, that sufficient show of force can be very, very large. Fortunately that was not the case today. We were still in the vole demon's lair this morning, but we left quickly, traveling west to the location that had been identified as the goblin's home. Soon, we realized that we were expected; some type of flying reptile spotted us from the air, and then reported our presence to the village. When we arrived we found that the goblin village was on alert. There wasn't much of it, really--a big lodge house set up against the side of a hill and a stockade. We also saw two cages, one big and one small, hanging in the middle of the village. We were sure they contained the giant beaver and normal-sized rat that we had been asked to rescue. We also learned that the goblin had demonic mounts. They were giant reptiles. Besides the flier, we also saw several heavily-armored reptiles with mace tails, and a few duck-billed reptiles, and a huge man-eating reptile, and another armored reptile, this one with horns. There were seven goblins and all, and thus seven mounts. Four of the goblins were on patrol, waiting for us. Much to my surprise the magi decided to stage a frontal assault, depending primarily upon their own magic. So it began. Berengarius began to call upon his powers, striking fear into the hearts of the goblins, and at the same time I shouted out for them to flee, my charisma magically increased by Viator. In just a few moments the goblins were in full retreat and we were able to descend into their village. We freed the two captive animals, but, alas, what happened to them next was a tragedy. The giant beaver happened to mention how she had lost her mate over a year ago, and Lorum angrily said that he had killed the beast because it was demonic. The beaver we had just freed went mad, and for a moment I thought it would descend upon Lorum, but instead it went running west, chasing after the goblins that had so recently captured it. As for the rat, we told it to head home, and it began to, but then Viator's weasel struck. We had sent the weasel off hours before to hunt a mouse requested by Berengarius, and it was bad luck that it returned just as the rat set off. The weasel just tried to capture the rat, but the shock was too great for the small creature, and it died. Saddened but not surprised by the cruel tricks that this bitter world plays, we headed into the lodge, and there found a cave heading down into the Earth. Leaving only Xanti, Torp, and Aitor behind, we descended into the caves. They seemed to catacomb the entire hillside, a twisting, turning mass of confusing tunnels. As we traveled through them we found a strange silver fluid upon some of the walls. Berengarius determined it to be numbing, and we began to search for those passages which contained the fluid in the greatest concentrations. Soon we stumbled upon a huge shaft. I use that word literally, for Roger-Tien was in the lead and he was confused by the strange reflections of the silvery fluid. He did not see the shaft at all, but rather tumbled straight in. It was only the quick thinking and fast casting of Viator that saved Roger-Tien's life. After his fall was slowed he was able to sidle over to the side of the shaft and then to climb up. The shaft was entirely covered with the silvery fluid, and it seemed obvious that its source was straight below. However, the lords were becoming nervous by this time and we decided to return to the surface to deal with the goblins. A few hours after we left a goblin and a spiky-tailed reptile wandered out of the caves, but we had been ready for something of this sort--we had already considered that the caves might the source of our foes. So we captured them easily. The reptile later got away, but we kept hold of the goblin. The rest of the day was spent by the lords engaging in the rather unsavory job of categorizing reptile dung. Xanti explained that he could use the dung to summon the reptiles because it was an oar-cane connection. Lorum helped with the job by summoning up a picture of each reptile so Xanti knew which dung belonged to which beast. Right around sunset Xanti summoned up the flying reptile. My warriors shot the goblin off its back, and then we captured the reptile and tied it up. It seems we are done for the night. Tomorrow Xanti plans to continue with his summoning exercise and my warriors will have to hogtie more reptiles. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 2, 1216 Midnight A most disturbing experience tonight. I had a vision. In it I heard a woman's voice. She spoke to me, asking my name and house. I told her of course. Then she told me to protect my amulets. Finally she was gone. I have duly reported this experience to the Quaesitor. I wish I had been able to join my fellows in their journey to the Vole Queen. Then I would not be here in this lab dreaming these dreams. But, Tara's second season of instruction is almost done. It was not to be. - * - From The Book of Exile As Dictated by Michelle du Provencal September the Third, Second Year of Exile (1216 AD) "Any victory that is not hard won should be considered with suspicion." Again the words of my old friend Pierre. He was a fount of wisdom and is missed greatly. Today we finished our work at the goblin village. It began with Xanti summoning the first of the duck-billed reptiles. We successfully captured it although its goblin was nowhere to be seen. At the same time Viator went for a fly through the caves. He learned that at the bottom of the shaft there is a pool of that silvery liquid, and that perhaps a dozen more goblins and reptiles are imprisoned within. The whole thing bubbled, as if it were slowly being warmed. We decided to collapse some of the caves around the pool to prevent any further goblins from escaping. Now we plan to go back to the Vole Queen to report what we have found, then it is back to the covenant to drop off our two captured reptiles and one goblin, then it will be back here to try and recover the other escapees. - * - Drake's Diary 6 September, 1216 AD Alas, my heart is stove in two, for the flying reptile my friends were kind enough to bring me died during the night. At least his duck-billed friend is still safe, happily grazing in the rice fields. Note to myself: don't hang flying reptiles upside down all night. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Any idea why he died, Drake?" | | "I think all the blood ran to his head." | | -Fabricarious and Drake, on flying reptile care | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - * - Aubrin's Memoirs September 10, 1216 My fellows have now returned, following their second trip to the goblin's village, and I think all is done. On September 8 they returned to the village and found it still deserted. Lorum destroyed their wooden edifice to ensure that it could no longer be used to house goblins, and afterward he, Viator, and Andre went into the tunnels below once more, and this time they did a more thorough job of sealing everything up. We could reenter the caverns if we wished, but we suspect it will keep any marauding giant lizards in. Xanti tried to summon giant lizards once more, but was unsuccessful. It seems that they are now either long gone or tightly bound to prevent their escape. Afterward my fellows traveled down to the Vole Queen, making a final report on September 9. She seemed well pleased by the results of our mission, despite tragedy to beaver and rat, and has promised she shall be out here just before Viator's wedding to bless us with fertility once more. So, we are done with this matter, and now Viator's wedding grows near. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 12, 1216 Early Evening More repercussions. I received a letter today from Narsian of Sansaron. He said that the locals have been enganging in disturbing activities since our visit. He has asked for a complete report of our expedition to Africa. I will be duly submitting it to him soon.