Prospectus Log #38: The House of Pain +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Of the interweaving of two threads: how the demon Risus, who is not | | Risus but appears to be, may engineer thefts in order to draw magi to | | his valley, and how the magus Insulanus, who is Insulanus and appears | | to be, may engineer fish in order to draw magi to his island. Also, | | how one of the twain is surprised by the luck of the draw. | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Berengarius the Bloodthirsty Magus of Criamon (Eric Rowe) Fabricarious Magus of Verditius (Chris Van Horn) Frangere Magus of Flambeau (Eric Fulton) Fraxima the Faerie Flambeau Maga of Flambeau (Donald Kubasak) Risus Magus of Criamon (Dave Woo) Viator the Villainous Magus of Jerbiton (Dave Pickering) Aubrin the Evil Elder of Merinita Drake the Liminal Elder of Bjornaer Sergio Old Grog Anna Faerie, not an Evil Twin Sammy Squid, not a Kraken Subpedes Ferret, not a Weasel Insulanus Ex. Misc. "Lord Risus" Ex. Demon. Story Guide: Eric Rowe - * - Drake's Diary 17 February, 1220 AD Most bizarre today, Sergio brought me word of a mole fish which was caught near our covenant. This is to say a fish that was part mole, by the by. I considered hanging it upside down in my lab, but that seems to be hard on the animals, so I have opted not to. Instead the grogs will place the mole fish in our pond, the very one that Pietro likes, in the garden. Note to Self: Remember to investigate mole fish. Do not hang it upside down in lab. - * - Drake's Diary 18 February, 1220 AD More disturbances today and more strange fish. This time it was a chicken fish which visited our covenant. Once again it was Sergio who found it, a most strange coincidence; he first brought it to the attention of Berengarius. The youngsters decided to investigate a little more than I did yestereve. Ah, the vigor of youth. They played the flower game and summoned Anna up, but she claimed to know nothing about the strange goings on. Who can trust her, though? She seems evil half the time anyway. Next, they played the red fish game to try and summon up Sammy, but he didn't appear. That's when the youngsters came to get me, asking me to investigate the mystery of the missing squid. He's really a kraken, but I don't have the heart to tell them. Note to Self: Don't tell youngsters the squid is a kraken. - * - Drake's Diary 20 February, 1220 AD Looks like Sammy has been gone for quite some time, which is the kraken Sammy, not the squid Sammy. I've asked around a bit and no one has seen him for months. Ah well, back to lab. Note to Self: Watch for suspicious sales of calimari. I hear the youngsters are still looking into this fill-in-the-blank-fish thing, with Viator, Frangere, and whats-her-name that Aubrin likes going down to the Vole Queen to play twenty questions, or maybe thirty or a hundred. Hopefully she'll be able to tell us what's going on, though I may still investigate the mole fish for fun. - * - The Memoirs of Aubrin the Evil February 24, 1220 What has become of us, that every time problems appear we must go and speak with the nearby faeries, as has happened again? This time, it all has to do with fish--strange fish bearing the characteristics of other animals as well--appearing to us, and so three of the younger magi went to the Vole Queen to ask what we should make of these. As so frequently seems the case, the Vole Queen told us that this was not related to faeries at all, and so we must be original and look toward other sources. Speaking of the fish, a new one appeared today, this one a sheep fish. Drake decided to look into this one's mind and learned that it had once been a normal fish before undergoing some painful transformation, leaving it as it now is. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Grogs, get out here and shave this creepy fish." | | -Viator, on hat making | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ A second strange thing, Fabricarious had some metal stolen from his lab today, though the mole fish and chicken fish are both accounted for and so should not be considered suspects. Finally, Sammy still hasn't shown up, and so we've asked Anna to go ask Aquil if he's seen our squid. Actually, he's a kraken, but I haven't had the heart to tell my younger associates this. - * - Other Records as recorded by Lucindia the Seneschal February 25, 1220 Another theft today, this time the Vim book that Risus was writing. Fabricarious is organizing a search. - * - The Memoirs of Aubrin the Evil February 26, 1220 Word back from Anna today, and my worries about a brewing storm amidst the faeries is once again rising. It appears that Sammy disappeared because he was banished by Dux Aquil, all because Sammy had sworn allegiance to my sweetie. - * - Letter Found Pinned to Risus' Tree February 27, 1220 I know where your book is. Lord Risus Incl: One lock of hair - * - The Memoirs of Aubrin the Evil February 27, 1220 It seems that my recent worries about faeries were unjustified, for in actuality it seems to be demons that have been harassing us of late, at least with regard to the thefts; I am less sure that the demons are the cause of the strange fish. Risus got another note today from the demon that occasionally wears his face, proclaiming knowledge of the book so recently stolen from Risus. We spoke of this at council for a while, and several of my associates have decided to look into the matter. My sweetie will be joined by Risus, Viator, Frangere, and Fabricarious. They plan to go south, for the last time that Risus spoke with this demon, the demon told of a land he controlled there. Hopefully this problem can be dealt with once and for all. My fellows plan to leave on the first of March. - * - Other Records as recorded by Lucindia the Seneschal February 29, 1220 Another theft today. Apparently our thief is ironic. Fabricarious got some new locks put on his lab after the last theft. The locks were stolen today. - * - The Memoirs of Aubrin the Evil March 1, 1220 My sweetie headed off south this evening to look into this demon problem, taking with her Risus, Viator, Frangere, and Fabricarious. I hope all goes well there. They should be back in a week or so. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "I'm fucked." | | -Frangere, on happenings in the Risus Valley | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - * - Other Records as recorded by Lucindia the Seneschal March 3, 1220 More thefts. This time Berengarius lost some lab equipment. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Well, I'm gonna... Oh shit." | | -Risus, on happenings in the Risus Valley | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - * - The Memoirs of Aubrin the Evil March 4, 1220 It seems that the tenor of our recent thefts has changed, for today it was not simple lab equipment that disappeared, but rather a covenfolk, or at least a coven animal. The ferret was kidnapped today. (It's really a weasel, but I just don't have the heart to tell my younger associates that.) In any case the "ferret" is definitely gone. No word yet from my sweetie; I hope everything is going well. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Crap!" | | -Viator, on happenings in the Risus Valley | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - * - Other Records as recorded by Lucindia the Seneschal March 5, 1220 Berengarius lost more lab equipment today. Another weird fish appeared today, this one a boar fish. It tried to maul our grogs, but they slew it. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Have I mentioned I'm fucked?" | | -Frangere, on happenings in the Risus Valley | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ - * - Albus' Dialogues March 12, 1220 Mid-Evening Risus and the others are now long overdue. I feel bad for not supporting my friend as I should have. The threat of meeting a demon in his home land was just too much for me. I feared what the Quaesitors might say. I should have been stronger. I should have had faith. She agrees. I pray they are fine. - * - The Memoirs of Aubrin the Evil March 18, 1220 Still no word back from my sweetie, and I'm beginning to become concerned. It should only have taken three days for Viator to fly the group down to the land of the evil Risus, and six times that much has gone by. I am sure Fraxima can take care of herself, but I'm about ready to go after her. - * - The Memoirs of Aubrin the Evil March 20, 1220 My sweetie finally returned today, and she is fine. The rest of the magi did not return with her. Apparently there were major demonic happenings in the Risus Valley and Fraxima wanted nothing to do with them, so she left in advance of the others. The rest of my fellows stayed behind to try and resolve Risus' problem. I am surprised they are not back yet, for they should have flown while Fraxima walked, but I will try not try to worry too much. - * - The Memoirs of Aubrin the Evil March 21, 1220 The rest of my fellows are back, just a day after Fraxima. Things are not as bad as I might have feared, but much worse than I might have hoped. My fellows arrived at the Risus Valley to find a utopia there, a valley full of happy and fat peasants surrounding a beautiful castle. It was ruled over by a Lord Risus who looked very much like our own Risus. Viator said that they were so similar that he can never trust our own Risus again. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Where do I live?" | | -Risus, on enigmatic questions | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ My fellows did careful investigations. They found that the people were truly happy. They heard that the valley was free of war, a place of peace. They learned that the lord of the place, the one who looked so much like Risus, was a patron of the arts and a most important lord in the area. After their investigations, my fellows finally decided to confront the lord Risus. Apparently, he was quite amicable, and happily revealed that the entire valley was a trap desired to lure people into attacking it, a form of temptation designed to steal away souls. As for Risus, the lord Risus said that he was just a side project. However, with Risus so nearby, the demon decided to turn his attention to him. As a form of temptation, the lord Risus offered the valley to Risus, including the castle and the happy peasants. Risus wisely turned it down. Not so Frangere, who unwisely offered to take the valley. I think he did it in jest, but the demon quickly accepted Frangere's offer, and so Frangere made a deal with the demon Risus, and the demon disappeared. My fellows were all shocked when they realized what Frangere had done and so they spent much time trying to decide what to do about it, and in the end they finally determined that they had to burn down the whole place: castle, valley, all. It burned. There was still the matter of the peasants, over a thousand of which had once lived in the demon Risus' valley, and my fellows were somewhat leery of them, for they suspected that the people knew that they served a demon. Viator talked carefully with them, and learned that some of the people had been suspicious of their lord, but that they did not seem to be truly tainted. About a third of the peasants were interested in traveling back to Prospectus Locus with Viator, Risus, and the others; Viator accepted them. And so my fellows arrived weeks late, 300 peasants in tow. We will be settling them in another of the long abandoned towns lying here in the delta, bringing our total number of villages to three, where just a few scant years ago we had only Bercula. So, that is the story of what my fellows found in the Risus valley, and though they have all returned alive, I fear what has become of Frangere, for but a few ill-considered words. Only time will tell. Frangere and I are now preparing letters to send to the Quaesitors. Hopefully he shall not be punished for what was clearly an honest mistake. - * - Drake's Diary 22 March, 1220 AD Though tired from their recent trips, a few of the youngsters have been bit in the butt by the adventuring bug and so, returning from the valley of the lost demons, have decided to travel up the river to find the island of the half-fish, or something like that. They really don't know what they're looking for, but they want to find it. The source of the half-fish that is, so Viator, Risus, Fabricarious, Frangere, and Fraxima all headed north today, and good luck to them. Ah, the vigor of youth. The mole fish stares at me nervously when I go down to the garden to watch him. Note to Self: Determine if mole fish can burrow. - * - Drake's Diary 23 March, 1220 AD Ah, so wonderful to have a mystery solved. I feel like I might have done it myself, so close to these youngsters I feel today. There was, it seems, a magus at heart of all our problems, the half-fish ones that is, no faerie as Aubrin had suspected, a magus by the name of Insulanus. Insulanus has been experimenting, putting different animals together, and in fact the youngster met a few of them, including a bearman who apparently was their leader. I hear that Fraxima and Fabricarious were quite interested in this man's research, though it really seems a poor imitation of finding one's heart-beast, I mean, having to graft an animal on to one's self, that's just icky, but whatever floats your boat I suppose, or fish or whatever, not that fish float except when they're dead. So, whatever floats your dead fish. The youngsters say that Insulanus is going to be more careful about not letting his experiments get free, and I also hear from the rumor mill, aka the secret French underground, that Fabricarious has ordered a weasel-fish for Berengarius, so that he can have a weasel-fish to go with his chicken-fish and chicken-weasel, like he's collecting the whole set or something. The rumor mill, aka the French underground, also says that this might well void the entire Berengarius-Fabricarious certamen pool, alas, I had big bucks on Berengarius in 43 seconds. Note to Self: find out what 'cathar' is French for. - * - Other Records as recorded by Lucindia the Seneschal March 23, 1220 Weasel returned. No one claiming responsibility-slash-credit.