Vardian Log #8: The Lost Lake

--
"Having [Taron] as the lake is useful.  What if we have a fire?"
	--Flamma
--

Season: Spring 1200

The Players:

Angus of House Bonisagus			Magus		(Don)
Certus of House Bonisagus			Magus
Christophano					Grog
Demorar of House Quaesitor			Magus		(Billy)
Flamma of House Flambeau			Magus		(Eric)
Luigi the Flame Proof				Grog
Taron of House Bonisagus			Magus
Terra Natus of House Ex. Misc.			Magus
Tiro of House Jerbiton				Magus
Veritus of House Mercere			Redcap		(Doug)

**
** From the Chronicles of Salvadore, Autocrat of Vardian's Tomb
** Spring, 1200

These are the official chronicles of the First Council Meeting for
Vardian's Tomb in the Spring of twelve hundred.  The Council Meeting
officially began when Certus first spoke, addressing the grog, Luigi, who
had just entered the room.  It is hereby recorded, that Certus screamed "A
whole lake doesn't just get up and walk away!" while Luigi cowered.

After Certus calmed himself, Luigi explained that he and several other
grogs had gone down to the lake that lies many miles below our Covenant to
collect our yearly supply of vis.  When they arrived, they found the lake
which has supplied us with vis for scores of years utterly dry.

Several of the younger magi, namely Tiro, Angus and Demorar volunteered to
help recover the Lake.  It is hereby recorded that Certus has agreed to
let each of these magi spend one season in the Greater Library in return
for this service.  The magi have also requested Luigi and Christophono to
accompany them on this venture.

The one other item on the agenda was another young magus asking
admittance.  His name is Veritus, and he is of us House Mercere.  In
accordance with the Agreement of 1197, Veritus was accepted into the
Covenant, and assigned the duty of helping to recover our missing Lake.

As the younger magi set off on their quest, many of the elders were eager
to call the Council to end, and the meeting was terminated.

**
** From the Diary of Aquilonius

Since we saved Certus and Chavin, I have been in a foul mood.  Several
times since that foul expedition, I have gone up to Rome, and each time I
was shunned as if I was a leper.  I begin to realize that my ideas of
befriending the Mundanes were incorrect.  To make matters worse, the cut
that I made on my left arm, to drain the blood that Certus needed for his
restoration, has still not healed.

However, I was cheered a bit up when Tiro stopped by and told me of their
recent expedition to find the Lake, which had disappeared sometime before
Luigi went to get this year's vis (with several other grogs, of course).
It was a tale of befuddled magi, useless Certamens and beguiling Faeries
that nearly brought a smile to my face, despite recent events.

Apparently, the four magi, along with Luigi and Christophono, arrived down
at the lake with no problems.  Indeed, it was as dry as Luigi had
promised, although water was slowly dripping from the stalactites above,
perhaps fast enough to replenish the lake in a few hundred years.  As they
sat there, trying to ponder the mystery of the lake, Flamma postulated a
theory, saying that perhaps the lake had been drained by field mice
drinking it away.  However, the laughter was not enough to cause the magi
to miss what appeared shortly afterwards.

Looking across the dead lake, while considering Flamma's thoughts, one of
the magi suddenly spotted a ghostly white shape.  As it drew closer, Tiro
says that he recognised the form as Fernando, a grog who died over two
years ago.  It seemed that a ghost was haunting the dead area that had
once been our Covenant's lake.

After Flamma realized that flaming the ghost would do little good, the
magi decided to speak with it.  The shade said that he had wandered this
area since he had died two years before, on another expedition to this
same lake.  After speaking for a short time, Angus got bored, and Perdo
Mentemed the ghost, who had asked to be freed some time before.

However, Angus' impetuousness had not cost the magi their only chance for
information, for several minutes later, another shade appeared.  Tiro
recognised this one as Carlo, who had been killed by the Water Elemental
that almost slew all of us, while Angus and Durus had been bickering over
a Certamen.  He spoke with them for a time, and then said that there was
one more shade wandering the area around this lake.  He had been there
for nearly 50 years, Carlo said.  And then, Carlo revealed the Shade
of Taron.

Tiro could barely keep from laughing when he saw the look of shock on
my face at this statement.  "There is more to the story," he said, while
quieting my questions, and then he went on.

Taron's ghost told a distressing tale.  He said that when he had come to
the lake 50 years ago, to retrieve the vis, he had been attacked by one of
the beasts that the Lake occasionally generates, and killed.  In the Fall
of 1199, he said, the Lake had formed itself into the shape of a man.
Into his own shape.  And, it had walked up to our Covenant.

Tiro smiled again when he told be of the various wizard's reactions.  He
said that Flamma seemed to think that the problem was solved.  She liked
Taron The Lake, for he was a nice guy, occasionally doing us younger magi
favors.  Veritus, on the other hand, was quite distressed, and tried to
get up to the Covenant before the others, to warn the Council.  Of course,
he did not know the Caves, and became rapidly lost.  Angus wanted to kill
this Taron Elemental, while Demorar simply thought that the matter should
be brought to the Council's attention, and this is the solution that was
finally chosen.

Due to the seriousness of the situation, only one Certamen was fought on
the way back up to the Covenant.  Flamma had become upset at Demorar, who
had said that she was not in control of herself.  Flamma won the duel, and
Demorar may no longer tell her that she is out of control.  I can see why 
this issue was so much more important than warning the Covenant of a 
potentially malicious elemental hiding among them.

Finally, the magi reached the Covenant, and an emergency Coucil Meeting
was called.  (The notice was so short that many of us did not make it,
which is why Tiro was able to surprise me with his 'revelation' about
Taron.)  Several Intellego spells cast by Terra Natus proved that Taron
was not the Elemental that the younger magi had said he was, and the magi
were soon off again, for the Magical Lake beneath our Covenant, determined
to find the real answer to the question of the missing lake.

Apparently, the magi were bright enough to cast Intellego spells this
time, and Demorar had soon determined that the ghosts that they had
seen weren't.  While investigated the area again, Flamma heard something
scuttling away, and had soon collared a Gnome, who they rapidly realized
had been causing their problem.

Under threat of death, he admitted that his tribe of Gnomes, recently
arrived in this area, had realized that the Lake was magical.  So, they
had carted it away, in glass bottles, to their nearby lair.  He also
admitted that he had been casting the illusions of the dead beings, drawn
from the memories of the magi.  He had hoped that the magi would leave
them in peace, thinking that they had solved the mystery of the
disappearing lake.

Despite the presence of Angus and Flamma, the Gnome agreed to take the
magi to his home, to discussion the allocation of the Lake.  However, the
problem was still far from solved.  According to Tiro, the Gnome King was
quite adamant about not returning the Lake until a Contest was suggested.
Then, he became willing to compromise.  The decision was made that there
would be three tests, of Drinking, Dicing and Rudeness, and that if the
magi could win two of these Contests, half of the Lake would be returned
to them.

With a grin, Tiro told me that he had undergone the first Test, a drinking
contest with a Faerie, and that with one sip of the drink, he was turned
into a Green Frog. Thus, the first contest was won by the Gnomes. The
second contest was dicing, and it was Flamma who entered this.  After the
dice were rolled, it was apparent that Flamma had lost, so she Perdoed the
Faerie's dice, causing them to explode.  Since the Faerie no longer had
enough dice to beat what Flamma had rolled, she became the winner.  The
Gnome King began to shout that Flamma had cheated, and Demorar turned
around, and said "Quite rude of her, wasn't it."  A bit surprised at the
agreement, the Gnome said, "Why, yes," and thus, we had won the third
contest as well.

Demorar, however, was not prepared to return with only half of the lake,
so he began to bargain with the Gnomes again, offering to tell them of two
sites of great magic items, in return for the other half of the lake.
Realizing that two areas full of magic could give them more than a mere
half of a Lake, the Faeries agreed, and Demorar told them of the Demon
Swords that were still in Rome above, and of Verdi, Domus Magnus of House
Verditius, the magic item makers of the Order.  There was a time when I
might have been upset by Demorar turning these Faeries lose on the
Mundanes in Rome, but after my recent treatment there, it seems just
punishment for them.  And, of course, only good can come out of causing a
Covenant of boring Verditius to be overrun by Faeries.  It seems that in
this case, Demorar found an excellent solution to the problem.

Thus, the magi were lead to an enormous Cavern with hundreds of thousands
of vials and flasks, full of the missing Lake, and then, the Faeries
vanished.  If would have taken Munanes several seasons to return the
entire lake to it's proper spot.  The magi, however, were able to do it in
a few hours, by making indentations in the passages leading to Lake,
smashing all of the vials, and then letting the water naturally return to
it's rightful place.  Truly, Magic is a wonderful thing.

And so, Tiro, no longer a frog, finished his story.  Thinking of the magi,
fooled into thinking Taron was a Lake certainly cheered me up, as did
envisioning Rome and Verdi both overrun by Gnomes, mad for magic items.
Perhaps they will even help to get some of the demon swords that the Magi
left in Rome out of that city.  The story was definitely a welcome one,
breaking the foul mood that had laid on me since my return from the
magical world of the tarnished mirror.