Prospectus Logs #40: A Wolf at the Gate +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | In which a journey is made to the Rhine Tribunal, and two of the | | magi are reunited with the land of their apprenticeship. Also, what do | | you do with a covenant full of Bjornaer, and, more importantly, why | | would anyone try to invade it? Attack trees and scared oxen. Finally, | | scat cat! | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Albus Magus of Tytalus (Shannon Appel) Fraxima the Faerie Flambeau Maga of Flambeau (Donald Kubasak) Risus Magus of Criamon (Dave Woo) Viator the Villainous Magus of Jerbiton (Dave Pickering) Drake the Liminal Elder Magus of Bjornaer Arnau Grog Jean-Patrice Grog Michelle Grog Torp Grog Pietro Apprentice of Drake Tara Apprentice of Albus Subpedes Ferret Boullius of Tremere Magus Cistula of Quaesitor Maga Cowl Ex. Misc. Magus Gallus of Bjornaer Magus Gustaf Ex. Misc. Magus Miguel Ex. Misc. Magus Nameless Shaman Shaman Alfredo Cistula's Grog Cat Boullius' Cat Turo Big-Mouthed Grog Story Guide: Bill Filios - * - Albus' Dialogues August 1, 1220 Mid-Evening An interesting offer today. It seems I will reemerge from my lab. I have retreated to it too much of late. In honesty, I still feel guilty about not helping Risus when I should have earlier this year. Perhaps that it was has kept me cloistered for so long. It was Drake who brought the offer. He spoke of the upcoming Bjornaer meeting, a month distant now. Their grand convocation. He asked if I would like to attend as a guest and guard. I was quite honored and so accepted. It interrupts my teaching of Tara this year. However, I believe she will learn much more at this Bjornaer gathering than she ever could in my dusty old lab. Fraxima, Risus, and Viator have all been invited as well. I feel sure they will attend because the opportunity is unequaled. We will not actually attend the real Bjornaer gathering, of course. Rather we will remain just outside Crintera. It will be our job to watch for the shapechangers who inevitably try and disrupt the gathering every time it is held. I am sure we will be able to do it with peaceful diplomacy and no need for conflict. And, it will be good to see the Rhine again. - * - Albus' Dialogues August 25, 1220 Mid-day Today we are off for Crintera. Five magi, five grogs, two apprentices, and a ferret. An auspicious number. In any case, all of the magi invited are attending, as I expected. Drake leads us. The others are Fraxima, Risus, and Viator. Viator is, of course, flying us to Crintera. I have brought Tara and Drake brought Pietro. Drake expects that the young lad will find his heart beast during the gathering. The ferret is Subpedes. Forticulus says the ferret is a weasel but I don't believe it. Aubrin and Drake both agree with me. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 1, 1220 Late Evening An exhausting day. We arrived at Crintera a few hours before sunset. It had been years since I have seen the covenant. Not since I left the Rhine so long ago, foolishly fleeing She that I now know as ally, protector, and friend. Crintera looks much the same, secluded by mountains, hills, and forest alike. However, Crintera felt different to me today. In my past visits I had been an apprentice. I was there only at the pleasure of my elders. Today I came to Crintera as an equal. I was prepared to take on part of a task for the covenant. To do my own share. It almost felt like a coming of age. We landed not far from the tiny town that lies near Crintera. At once, we knew there was something odd. Scattered about the town where all number of campsites. Drake ducked into Crintera to learn what was going on. He soon relayed to us that a Quaesitor from Magvillus had taken up residence in the town of Crintera. Her name was Cistula. Apparently she had paid the townspeople to camp outside the town, so that she could have it all to herself. Drake shrugged, wished us luck in our guarding, then ducked back inside the covenant. Before he left he reminded us one last time that we might be killed if we tried to enter the covenant during the gathering. I decided that the proper thing to do was to organize all of the magi. All of them guarding the gathering that is. I began to look around and see who was who. That's when I ran into Boullius. Boullius of Tremere. He's from some covenant called Postestas. Down in the Roman Tribunal. Silly name for a covenant. Even for Tremere. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "This is my good friend, Risus, and he..." | | "I'm a Criamon." | | "That says it all." | | -Albus, Risus, and Albus | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ Boullius seemed to have things organized already. He of course was the best leader, though I did not realize it then. He told us a bit about Cistula. He said that she wasn't very interested in helping. He also warned us that four Ex. Misc. were holed up in the town. Hiding behind Sanctum symbols. They would need watching after, he said. After that we were off to see Cistula. It seemed proper to offer her our respect. At the edge of town a grog named Alfredo greeted us. The leader of Cistula's turb. We negotiated with him. Finally we were allowed in to see the Quaesitor. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "We offer our, our, our, what's the word I'm looking for..." | | "Contempt." | | -Albus and Viator, on word choice | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ I must say I did not think much of the Quaesitor. I should forgive her, or so She says. I cannot. Though I should have expected what came. She slighted me, quite simply. It is because of my master, of course. It will never be forgotten. It will never be forgiven. At least Fraxima was able to talk with her. Cistula warned of factions. There is apparently some move afoot to have a Bjornaer appointed Quaesitor. A Bjornaer named Gallus who comes from England. There are no Bjornaer Quaesitors currently. But, this whole matter has caused factionalization among the Bjornaer. We confirmed that Cistula would offer us no aid in our guarding. Then we took our leave of her. We returned to Boullius to talk about the Ex. Misc. He said he wanted them guarded. We nodded and moved on. We decided to talk with the Ex. Misc. next. We suspected that Boullius had somehow irked them. I did not know then that he, of course, was the best leader. So, we searched for the building where they had taken refuge. As Boullius had warned, the building was marked as a sanctum. I knocked and politely waited for them to appear. In all there were four Ex. Misc. Cowl, Gustaf, Miguel, and some smelly guy whose name I did not get. A shaman, I believe. The Ex. Misc. said they had chosen to leave the defense force. They said Boullius was crazy. Of course, he is; he is a Tremere. (But, I should note, the best leader, though I did not realize that then.) Fraxima got distracted by a cat and wandered away petting it. The rest of us continued with our work. We learned that the Ex. Misc. might be willing to rejoin the defense force. If only Boullius were not in charge. Then Risus wandered off after the cat. He returned later and mumbled something about it bouncing spells. Some riddle, no doubt. When does a cat bounce spells? When it's ajar. Something like that. We decided to continue our rounds. So, we went to talk with Boullius again. He outlined three places that needed to be guarded. The entrance to the valley Crintera is in. A nearby valley. The house of the Ex. Misc. I thought it was ludicrous to guard the Ex. Misc. I tried to convince Boullius to guard the faraway valley. That way we could do whatever we wanted near Crintera. He refused. I bated him into certamening me. I guess I should have just listened to him. He was the best leader, after all, though I did not realize it yet. Boullius beat me at certamen. I was forced to acknowledge him as the leader of the Crintera defense force. He was, after all, the best leader. Now I realized it. Viator certamened Boullius right afterward. He won. As a result, Boullius must do what Viator says. At least if he remains near Crintera. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "You shouldn't have done that, because he really was the best leader." | | "You know, I'm going to order him to tell you to shut up." | | -Albus and Viator, on the birth of bureaucracy | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ After that, things went well. Viator came to some agreement with Boullius. The Ex. Misc. left their refuge. They will help us in the defense now. All goes well. If only Boullius could have remained the leader. He was the best, after all. Viator just now wandered by, mumbling something about a cat watching him. The actual gathering is to start tomorrow. We must be wary for attacks. Twelve days to go. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 3, 1220 Early Evening The boring monotony of our guarding was broken today. Slightly. Some of the local grogs have developed a dislike for our French grogs. Risus brought word of it. He didn't make a lot of sense. Viator seems to be on top of the whole situation. He says he will go deal with it and there is nothing to worry about. +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "I trust them implictly... | | you know because we all share that dark secret." | | -Michelle, on flaws | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ That cat still seems to be hanging around. Viator was messing with it again today. Word is that it belongs to Boullius. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 3, 1220 Late Evening Viator just returned from his talk with the grogs. He reaffirmed that there is nothing to worry about. He says a Crinteran grog named Turo might be spreading rumors about our French grogs. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 5, 1220 Early Evening Grogs and cats. We will be truly blessed if we have to guard against nothing more than that in our stay at Crintera. Where are the marauding shape changers? Lean and athirst? At least She is pleased by the peace. First, grogs. Today the rumors said that our French grogs were going to invade the town. The one where Cistula--the Quaesitor--is currently staying. According to these rumors, our grogs were going to break open the alehouse. It's been locked down since Cistula took over the town. Viator couldn't find the source of the rumor. It was, of course, false. Second, cats. Just one actually. That same one that has dogged our steps since we arrived in Crintera. Fraxima was talking about it today. It hangs out around the Quaesitor apparently. Fraxima thinks its fay. Viator is concerned about it too. He sent word in to Crintera this afternoon. He wanted to make sure it wasn't a Bjornaer. Just a short time ago he got confirmation that it wasn't. He has sent Torp out. Hunting the cat. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 6, 1220 Late, Late Evening The shapechangers have made their move! That sounds dramatic. So it was. I was awoken this evening by a ruckus near the village. Risus and I were in the keep. Just outside Crintera proper. We sprinted for the village at once. There we found a scene of chaos. A number of hunters were there. Strangers that is. They were attacking the villagers. Cowl was there too--putting up a fierce resistance. A few villagers stood by his side. The nameless shaman hid in a tree. Already, one of the hunters was dead; slain by the shaman's tree. Two others seemed comatose. I pulled my sword and shield and joined the fray. Michelle did as well; he had come with us from the keep. Risus cast a spell of invisibility. I have never quite understood his battle tactics. To be fair the invisibility was more useful than the circular ward against demons that followed. The battle was quick. Cowl and I both got the worst of it for a while. Eventually Michelle was able to clean things up. That's why we hire grogs. One of the bandits got away. We captured the rest. We talked with these captured hunters for a bit. We learned that they had been commanded to attack by a "wolf ancestor spirit." At last the shapechangers had reared their furry heads. For a few minutes we were confused about their objectives. Then Arnau came running up. Arnau revealed that a group of people was doing a ritual out in the nearby valley. He had come back for help. So, the attack on the village had been a distraction. I was wounded and Fraxima would not let me join the expedition. She went off with Risus and all of our grogs to stop the ritual. They were successful. The ritual apparently involved an ox. There were three shapechangers there and seven warriors. Using an Aura of Rightful Authority my friends commanded the warriors to kill the ox. So, the ox died from seven spear wounds. The ritual was disrupted. The shapechangers fled. Only one mysterious happening: the valley was being guarded by Arnau, Viator, and Boullius. Arnau reports that Boullius dumped something to the ground shortly before the attack. Boullius is, of course, the best leader. But could he be a traitor too? - * - Albus' Dialogues September 8, 1220 Late Afternoon Much sadness today. One of the villager's children died. It apparently was smothered. For some reason the villagers were blaming Roger-Tien. Some of this continued French bigotry. Perhaps She would have me preach about getting along. In any case, Torp swears that Roger-Tien could not have been anywhere around the smothered child. I had Arnau beginning spreading rumors about cats stealing breath from children. Then Torp brought me back word that he had found cat tracks near the boy's tent. Then the coup-de-grace. Fraxima told us of a demonic beast she knew of. It is called a witch-cat. She is sure it slays by stealing away breath. Viator and Fraxima decided the time had come to confront Boullius. After all, the cat they were all obsessed over was said to be his. I opted to stay away. After all, how could I be angry with our best leader. Besides, I didn't want to be near somebody consorting with demons. Upon returning Viator said that Boullius had been protecting the cat. He had hidden it on the fifth. That was when we started hunting it. On the sixth Arnau had seen Boullius setting it free out away from the town. He had literally let the cat out of a bag. We have sent Boullius off after the cat. If he brings the demon back things may be easier on him. Speaking of which, Fraxima has gone off to tell the Quaesitor all. Viator is organizing the villagers to watch for the demon cat. We all hope dearly that this tragedy is not repeated. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 8, 1220 Late Evening Boullius still not back. We suspect the worst. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 9, 1220 Mid-day The villagers caught and killed seven cats last night. None of them were demonic. I feel bad. She agrees that I should. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 9, 1220 Late Evening Done! Tonight the demon cat was roaming around. Jean-Patrice almost got it in the keep but it got away. Then it made the mistake of getting too near Fraxima out in the valley. She put a big flame cage around it. Cistula finally proved herself useful. She came out and quizzed the cat. She determined that it had killed the child and had been spying. However, it had not killed and ate Boullius as we suspected. When all was said and done Fraxima slew the beast. We now suspect that Boullius has simply fled. - * - Albus' Dialogues September 12, 1220 Mid-day The Bjornaer gathering is done. It has been a good experience. To see the edges of something so central to another house. Fair payment for warding off one attack. And dealing with that stupid Tremere's cat. (Stupid, but the best leader, of course.) Hopefully Tara has learned something too. And not simply to be wary of cats. I just met with Gallus a short time ago. He is the Bjornaer who wants to be named Quaesitor for his house. He gave me a pebble in thanks for support. It's a pawn of vis. The first I've ever been able to call my own. I hear that Fraxima is going to bring his issue up at our tribunal next year. Some deal with Cistula. We should be home in a week. We've convinced Viator to fly us. He'd wanted to walk all the way back home. - * - Drake's Diary 12 September, 1220AD And so, another gathering is past us, and I must say it was a good one, for I have learned the true shape of my apprentice. It is a carp, no surprise, Pietro has not been particularly coy in showing his inclinations, but it is nice to have it confirmed. So, back home, and I suppose I'll have to create a little fountain or something in my lab, or at least a wash basin, and maybe I should make somewhere for Pietro to swim in too. Note to Self: Tomorrow, do same thing I do every day. Try to take over the world.