Novgorod Log #22: Return to Stockholm +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Being the tale of an attack upon Stockholm, and results of that raid. | | Also, how a new magus came to Nature's Teeth, and how the covenant | | lost another member. | +-----------------------------------------------------------------------+ Agripinilla of Jerbiton Maga (Chris van Horn) Aethmunder of Bjornaer Bush (Don Perkovich) Ballisto of Tytalus Magus (Bill Filios) Carmen of Bjornaer Maga (Donald Kubasak) Carolinus of Tremere Magus (Chris Frerking) Felix of Flambeau Magus (Dave Pickering) Gallinarus the Gorm Magus (Matt Seidl) Nihil of Criamon Magus (Chad Weetman) Nova of Criamon Maga (Dave Woo) Pacifer of Tytalus Magus (Shannon Appel) Torris of Tremere Magus (Kevin Wong) Little Claus Norse Grog Captain Turpis Merchant (Dave Pickering) Big Claus Norse Grog Jarl Norse Grog Lars Norse Grog Skald Norse Grog Arnodd Great Shaman The Gorm Spirit Vegan Priest Weris Shade +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ | "Wow! You're a dirty dog, reading someone's diary." | | -Felix | +------------------------------------------------------------------------+ The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus June 21, 1203 The last three weeks have been pleasant ones. As I have healed, preparations have been made for our return to Stockholm. But, there has been no hastiness in these preparations. Rather, things have preceeded at a relaxed pace. Would that it could always be so. Then, as always seems to happen, we were disturbed from our repose today. It was Carmen who ran about the covenant, banging upon all of the doors to announce the need for a Council Meeting. The news that Carmen brought was disturbing. It seems that once more she is being haunted by ghosts. I suppose I can see what attracts them to her. Anyways, I think we might have a real problem on our hands. This time, Carmen is not being haunted by the burnt shades of some snivelling peasants. Rather, it is a magus who haunts her. To be precise, it is the ghost of Weris, the Flambeau recently slain by Felix. When Weris visited Carmen this morning, he threatened her, saying that he would kill her if she did not stay away from Felix. Understandably, Carmen was worried. So, she went to a spirit master for help. Unfortunately, the spirit master that she choose was the idiot boy, Gorm. Upon entering Carmen's lab, Gorm sat down and began clucking. It is his way of meditating, his method of reaching the spirit plane. And then, Gorm suddenly leapt up, and ran screaming from the room. That was when Carmen decided to call a Council Meeting. Realizing that a competent spirit master was needed, I suggested that perhaps Agripinilla might be able to help. She quickly assented, and headed off to Carmen's lab. The rest of us sat around and chatted, not truly concerned. We didn't think there was any reason to be worried, for the spirits have caused us no real troubles before. Some time while we were chatting, Nihil slipped off to go and speak with Gorm. It became obvious that something was wrong when Agripinilla came sprinting through the council room, not stopping until she had the entire covenant between her and Carmen's lab. A moment later, Carmen entered, smoke coming up from her singed head. It was clear that she was not pleased. In a few moments, we'd calmed the two of the down. Only then did we hear what had happened. Apparently, back in Carmen's lab, Agripinilla had cast her spell to summon spirits. As expected, the shade of Weris had appeared. He began to walk towards Agripinilla, silent as death, brushing aside her wards as if they did not exist. Agripinilla fled. I can't blame her, of course, for she was never meant to fight. And then Weris turned, and looked upon Carmen. He gestured once, and Carmen's beautiful red locks burst in flames. And then, he disappeared. As Carmen spoke, Nihil returned to the Council Room, Gorm in tow. Thus, when the tale was done, we were able to speak of this new haunting with both our spirit masters present. Both Agripinilla and Gorm were quite concerned, but they said there was little that they could do. Agripinilla said that the spirits of this island obey few of the normal laws of their kind. Gorm suggested that we should move. I told Gorm to shut up, and suggested that he head off with Carmen, to try once again to speak with Weris. He looked a little afraid, but still went off. This time, I was planning to go and watch the ritual, in case Weris attacked again. But, as I stood to go, Nihil bid me sit. He had interesting news to tell us all. It seems that when Gorm earlier went into the spirit plane, to try and meet with Weris, he had met up with the spirit of his master, Gorm (which is apparently a hereditary title). The Gorm had threatened him, and demanded that he kill the Hermetic magi, that is us, or be killed himself. And that was why Gorm had earlier fled from Carmen's room, screaming. We were still discussing whether we should kill Gorm or not when the object of our conversation returned once more to the room. His robes looked a little charred, but other than that, he looked none the worse for wear. He began to tell us what he had seen in the spirit plane. It was the final story of the day. Gorm said that he had voyaged far before finally coming to the home of the shade, Weris. It was a huge castle, made of flames, surrounded by a molten moat. Looking down from the battlements, Weris had asked Gorm what size his coffin should be. For a moment, Gorm stood firm, showing the same courage that he has before, but then Weris threatened him a second time, and the chicken mage turned and fled. Still shaking a bit, Gorm told us that Weris seemed very powerful, and that he thought himself unable to banish the shade from the island. We were all quite concerned, but for now, there seems little to do. I guess we may simply hope that Weris does not take it in his mind to burn the whole covenant down. Gorm, that is The Gorm, I suppose, is going to try and search the spirit planes, to find a shaman stronger than he. I hope that he is successful, and that the shaman is willing to help us, else bad days may lie ahead. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus June 22, 1203 Today, we were all still worried about Weris, but determined not to let it interfere with our plans. Thus, we boarded our ship, headed for Stockholm, just as we had planned. We are taking seven mages this time. Besides myself, there are Ballisto, Felix, Carmen, the Gorm, Nihil and Torris. It's probably overkill, but we did have a lot of trouble last time we visited that damned town. We're going to make a short stop in Visby, to ensure that Turpis gave Weris a proper burial, as we'd requested, and then we'll be off to Stockholm. I am enthusiastic about this expedition, and sure that we will return with the third of the door gems in our possession. As a side note, there was a bit of good news today. When the Gorm woke from his chicken trance this afternoon, he announced that he had found a powerful shaman. This great shaman, Arnodd, will soon be coming to our island. When he arrives, he will bind the spirit of Weris into a dead trout, and then all will be well once more at Nature's Teeth. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus June 23, 1203 Today has been a pleasant day. I spent it with Carmen, searching for items of beauty and luxury. Felix was kind enough to take care of the matter of speaking with Turpis, and thus I was able to spend the afternoon indolently. When we all regrouped at the boat this evening, Felix surprised us with what he had found. He had discovered a Tremere while speaking with Turpis! Apparently, the magus had been searching the North, looking for our covenant. The man, or more correctly, boy, is named Carolinus. When he first announced that he came from the covenant of Matighan, I nearly killed him on the spot, for Matighan was, of course, the covenant where Enervo originated from, the worst stinking cesspool of all of Germany. But, I restrained myself. Feeling the anger all about him, Arolinus quickly explained his reason for coming to the North. He said that he hated his Master at Matighan, and had come here to anger him. If there is actualyl truth in what Carolinus says, he could be a very valuable member of the covenant. I know that we are all thinking of the information that he could bring about our oldest foes. My friends and I talked about this Carolinus for a bit, and we have tenatively decided to accept him. In our coming expedition to Stockholm, we shall watch him carefully. If he is useful, he shall be welcomed into Nature's Teeth, a new soldier in the war. Else, we will quarter him with Felix, I think. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus June 24, 1203 Again, we are in Stockholm. Simply gazing upon the town fills me with anger, anger for the wrongs done to us when last we visited here, anger for the wound done upon Auditor, the wound which drove him from the North. It has been quite difficult to curb my fury, but I have managed by remembering Ballisto's wise words, his warning that the Quaesitors would not take kindly to us destroying the largest city in all the North. So, instead of bursting into Stockholm, destroying all about us like the fabled Ragnarok which the mutterers in the North fear, we sat about a table this evening, and quietly planned, determined to retrieve our gem as subtlely as possible. Tomorrow is to be a feast day, and so the gem will be taken from the great cathedral to the house of the King of Stockholm, in a grand procession. The King's house is far from Stockholm, and thus we will have plenty of opportunity to strike far from the dominion. It is quite ideal. Our plan is a simple one. Nihil will destroy the box which encloses our gem. Then, our new Tremere, Carolinus, will fling the gem far from the procession. Carmen will be waiting. Quickly, she will grab the gem, and then, turning to a hummingbird, fly back to our ship. I do not see what can go wrong.1 - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus June 25, 1203 Well, our plan didn't precisely work perfectly, but still today was a victory! Our morning started with a most unpleasant surprise. The dominion was higher today than it usually is in Stockholm, no doubt due to Saint Olaf's feast day. I kicked myself for not realizing this beforehand, but, honestly, none of us have dealt with the dominion much in the past. I suppose it was an acceptable mistake. Unfortunately, we were forced to go into Stockholm without disguises today, for I am not skilled enough to cast my new Imagonem enchantment with the power of God so increased. It was less than an hour after dawn when we all stumbled into Stockholm's cathedral. It is a huge building that will not be complete for a decade or more. Currently, the majority of Stockholm's religious icons are kept in that small church outside the walls, the church which we attacked last year. Still, enough of the cathedral was complete for today's services to be held there. I was bored throughout the service as the bishop and priests pranced around, waving their crosses and encanting their Christian prayers. The only thing that perked me up was the Bishop showing off the magnificent silver cross which now contained St. Olan's Relic, or rather, our gem. Finally, the service was done, and the priests began administering communion. I stayed to the rear of the church, as I expected all of the magi too. For some reason, though, the Gorm and Torris, idiots both, went forward to participate. I don't know what the numbskulls were thinking. Finally, after the sun was well into the sky, the Christian's boring ritual was done. The procession to the King's house began. Now, according to our plan, Carolinus was supposed to get very near the gem, for only then could he fling it to Carmen. Unfortunately, he was unable to do so, far guards and priests surrounded the relic. Thus, a slightly different tactic was used. Nihil quietly moved through the crowd until he was sufficiently close to our gem, and then he shattered the box that contained it. The great cross fell to the ground as Nihil cast his magic of destruction once more. St. Olan's relic dropped to the ground before the priests had even relealized that anything was amiss. Speaking softly, Carolinus, began to slowly move the gem through the air. By now, the whole crowd had turned to look upon it, but none tried to interfere. Clearly, they thought it a miracle. Carolinus finally dropped the gem when it was over Ballisto's head. Ballisto had been prepared for this eventuality, and as the gem dropped, he quickly produced an illusionary rock which he had earlier created. With quick and skillful fingers, he switched the two stones and then threw the illusion back to one of the priests. As the priest tried to catch the illusion, Felix caused a burst of light to appear. By then, the entire crowd was totally distracted. Ballisto took a few steps towards Carolinus, and thus was the gem brought close enough for Carolinus to cast it far away. I watched it arc to the north, where I knew Carmen was waiting. Everything seemed to have gone off without a hitch. The others started to join me, near the rear of the confused crowd. We planned to head off as soon as we could without arising suspicions. And then, that damned priest, Vegan, started shouting. Apparently, all of the strangeness had made him suspicious, and so he had begun looking for magi. He had spotted me. I tried for a moment to change my face, but still the dominion was too powerful. So, I turned and I fled. My courage is great, but even I am not stupid enough to face an entire town. Nihil tried to help me as I fled, by creating a pit under those who chased me, but the dominion overcame him as well. He badly botched his spell, and fell into his own pit. I shouted curses at him as I passed, trying to convince the peasants that the spell had been mine, not Nihil's. As gullible as ever, they believed me. And so, I continued running, heading for the Baltic. I outdistanced the majority of the village, for I have ever been a stout distance runner. There were a few, however, who were nearly upon me as I came within sight of the sea. I thought that I would be making my last stand as I turned upon them, maul in hand. Thank Tytalus, the villagers were cowards. Faced with an angry warrior, weapon in hand, they began to fear for their lives. I was able to make it the rest of the way to the sea unhindered. As I dove into the waters, I encanted my spell of water breathing. A short bit later, I flew up to our boat. I was happy to find that the rest of my friends had escaped unharmed. Ballisto had had a near call, but Carolinus managed to pull his fat out of the fire. I am happy to say that the Tremere proved amazingly useful during our little incursion into Stockholm. The gem, by the way, is clearly one of the ones stolen from our door. It is a huge opal, the size of a fist. Only four more to go! - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus June 26, 1203 Just after we sent Carolinus off today, to spend his requisite week upon our island, Agripinilla got really mad at the Gorm. It was most odd. Apparently, she is upset with having to call him by a non-Hermetic title. So, I have supplied him with a new title, his official Hermetic name I suppose. From this day forth, the Gorm shall be known as Gallinarius. Gallinarius the Gorm. - * - The Book of Nature's Teeth as Chronicled by Pacifer of Tytalus July 3, 1203 Today, Carolinus was welcomed into our Covenant, the newest member of Nature's Teeth. He did not look very well after his week upon the island, but still he survived it. After Carolinus was welcomed, we began to speak of where we would quarter him. Even with the magi all doubled up, we had no room for this newcomer. Finally, we decided to give him Aethmunder's lab. Ever since Aethmunder got his arm bit off by that dog, he's been very anti-social, staying in his lab most of the time, almost always in the form of a bush. In fact, when Andron moved all of their lab equipment out to the court yard, Aethmunder didn't even notice. Thus, we decided to give Carolinus the use of Aethmunder's lab, since a potted plant clearly didn't need all that space. However, when we went over to Aethmunder's lab, to explain our decision, we ran into a problem. We tried to speak to him, to somehow get him to respond to us, but had no success. We shouted and yelled, but couldn't even get Aethmunder to wiggle his leaves. Carmen said that when a magus remains his heartbeast for too long, he can become stuck in that form forever. I fear that is what has happened to our friend. Depressed by the loss of his arm, he has left us forever for the pleasant land of the green. We have moved Aethmunder to a corner of the council room, and we all hope that someday he might recover. But, I think we all realize that that is unlikely. And that was how Nature's Teeth lost its fourth member. Of the founders, only four remain. I wonder which of us will fall next.