Vardian Log #16: Vardian's Revenge -- "Are you an albino?" --Acutus (to an albino) "Let's kill the pope, dead!" --Meles -- Season: Winter, 1201 Dramatis Personae: Acutus of Ex. Misc. Magus (DougO) Antho of Mercere Redcap Antonio Wanderer (Chris) Aquilonius of Ex. Misc. Shade Arctin of Verditius Magus Celino Grog Chavin of Tytalus Magus Christophono Grog Demoror of Quaesitor Magus (Billy) Flamma of Flambeau Magus (Eric) Giovanni Grog Gotho Grog Imanitosi of Verditius Prima Innocent III Anti-Pope Jonathan de Cantere Wanderer Luigi Grog Captain Marlon of Tremere Magus (Phillip) Meles of Criamon Magus (Dave) Panvion of Verditius Magus Paulo Priest (DougL) Taron of Bonisagus Magus Terano Grog Vardian Ghost ** ** From the Chronicles of Salvadore, Autocrat of Vardian's Tomb ** Winter, 1201 Tiro reports that the recent plague in Rome was caused by the huge number of Crusaders going through the city. It seems that a new crusade was called, in part to help rid the city of religious fanatics. A large number of them, who had once been led by Myrta, adopted his name after his death, and were causing slight problems in the city above. Now, the Myrtans, and the rest of the Crusaders, have travelled down to Venice, where they seek passage to the holy lands. ** ** From the Chronicles of Salvadore, Autocrat of Vardian's Tomb ** Spring, 1202 After Taron of Bonisagus brought the first Council meeting of Spring, 1202 to order, Antho of Mercere was acknowledged. He brought a gold clasp for Demoror of Quaesitor, and then proceeded to give the latest news. He stated that the money for vis exchange system had worked well in it's first year, and that the Quaesitors of Magvillus were still trying to decide whether the new rules for Certamen were acceptable. Additionally, he said that the three honored Quaesitors who had travelled from Doissestep were still in consultation with the Covenant in Carthage, to which they travelled nearly a year ago. Finally, Antho sought to recover the body of his comrade, Veritus, who was lost to us the previous season. Demoror of Quaesitor scribed a long note concerning the death of the Mercere, and gave it to Antho, so that Harco would know the manner of his demise. After Antho left, to travel on further business, Taron brought up a very important matter. He told the younger magi that three quarters of the vis that was normally harvested had disappeared, and he wished them to find what had happened to it, and make sure that it did not happen again. One season in the main library was promised to each who helped on this expedition. Acutus, Demoror, Flamma and Meles went, taking Antonio, to act as a guide, and Luigi, to act as a guard. The Council meeting was concluded after several Certamens. First, Chavin challenged Demoror, upset that Demoror was continually talking of meeting Tytalus. Second, Meles challenged Flamma, for obscure reasons. ** ** From the Chronicles of Salvadore, Autocrat of Vardian's Tomb ** Spring, 1202 A brief Council meeting was called the day after the regular Council meeting of 1202, when the magi who had gone to investigate our missing vis sources returned. They stated that each vis source had indeed been stolen, and that they had seen signs that some form of animated skeleton was involved. Skeletons have been used by our enemies before. Long ago, Vardian attacked with a horde of them. Recently, one was the tool of Apertus, when he plotted againt our Covenant. Thus, Taron realized that the whole matter was very important, for one of our old enemies seemed to again be plotting against us. He did a reading with his Taron cards, and the younger magi left the Covenant again, this time heading towards the lake. They requisitioned four more grogs, Christophano, Giovanni, Gotho and Terano, saying that they expected a fight, and wished to be ready. ** ** From the Chronicles of Jonathan de Cantere, dutifully recorded ** by his lowly scribe, Phillipe By the year twelve hundred and two, my worthy master had brought his great skills to the one named Vardian. Great Jonathan said that Vardian was a very old one, who had been dead for many centuries. There was little doubt that Vardian was one of the powerful ones who Jonathan sought, that he hoped would aid him when the final conflict came over Jonathan's one great mistake. Thus, Jonathan aided him then. In the Spring, mighty Jonathan was called upon to do a favor for the old one. Vardian planned an attack upon a group of Wizards that mirrored his Covenant in the world of divinity. He sought to recover his bones, long stolen from him, by the evil magi there. To aid in his attack, Vardian had stolen magical 'vis' from the magi there, and now, a number of them were out searching for it, with a full third of their force of warriors along. Vardian requested that great Jonathan go to them, and lead them astray, so that there would be that much less resistance when his army descended. Jonathan kindly acceded, happy to help his friend, and set out for the great lake to which these magi and warriors were heading. ** ** From the Collection of Prison Writings by Christophano It was during my fourth year among the Magi of the Labyrinth that I went to one of the most fanciful and diabolical places that it would be privilege(?) to see. It all began when Luigi came and got a whole bunch of us, saying that the magi were worried about their magic stuff disappearing, and that we all had to go down to the lake, and retrieve the magical stuff there before it disappeared. I was a little confused, because we had just gotten magic stuff five or six months before, but Luigi assured me that the magi knew what they were doing, and that the magic stuff returned on certain very magical days, and that one of those had passed near the start of Winter. So, I got my weapons together, and went with Luigi. I learned that there were four of the magi going with us, and realized that they must think that something really important was going to happen. We got down to the lake, and the magi collected their magic stuff, and they were trying to figure out what to do next when I heard this whistling coming from across the lake. The person whistling had no sense of music, and it was so absolutely awful that I was covering my ears when he approached. When I saw him, I realized that his sense in clothing was as poor as his ear for music, for he was dressed in really bright and ugly clothes, and he had a huge floppy hat on his head. When he finally talked, he did so very loudly. I am sure that the entire cavern heard him when he introduced himself as Jonathan de Cantere. ** ** From the Chronicles of Jonathan de Cantere, dutifully recorded ** by his lowly scribe, Phillipe When my master arrived at the lake, he moved from the Middle Marches to the land of divinity, and quickly approached those whom he had been sent to intercept. As soon as he approached them, he began to befuddle them with his elegant speech, so much so that they began to walk with him, as they listened and he spoke. Eventually one, by the name of Flamma, became irritated at my master, and threw a huge ball of fire at him. Although Jonathan no doubt could have stood the blast, he decided to quickly leave, for he had accomplished his goal. As they had walked around the lake, he had moved them to the Middle Marches, for such is his power and his curse. And when the fiery one threw her ball of flames, he quickly stepped back to the world of divinity, leaving them in Lucifier's Land, helpless to aid the evil magi whom Vardian would soon attack. ** ** From the Legend of Luigi, as related to his beautiful wife By now, the magi had become confused, for the dandy who had led us around the lake had utterly disappeared. Looking around, I realized that things looked somewhat different. I saw that the lake had become stagnant, and that the entire cavern had become darker, despite the torches and lights that my grogs carried. Usually, I would have taken command at once, for fear means little to me. But, at the time I could only feel my deep misery, for I had been brutally seperated from the one that I loved most in the world. Eventually, the magi realized that something was strange, and decided to return to the Covenant. I was pleased that they had finally come to the same decision that I would have made long before, if I had not been feeling so desolate. As we ascended to the Covenant, I continued to see faint differences. The differences were subtle, but made everything seem very wrong. When we finally returned to the Covenant, it was obvious that we had been transported to some strange place that was an obscene perversion of our own realm. Where I expected to see my Covenant, there was instead a band of albino mages. Where I expected to see my turb, there were instead wandering groups of skeletons. I, of course, suspected by this time that this coven of albinos might be controlled by Vardian, the timeless nemesis of my Covenant, mainly due to the great number of skeletons, which he had used to attack the Tomb before. It also seemed likely that in this warped mirror of our reality, he would live in some place near to where Certus' sanctum was in our realm. Yet, fretting over my lost love, I was too despondent to pass on this revelation to the magi. Fortunately, they came up with it on their own after much discussion. As we moved towards the assumed sanctum of Vardian, we met a few small bands of albinos and skeletons. However, for the most part, the caverns were quite empty. All of my grogs fought well; Acutus, Christophano, Giovanni, Gotho and Terano all released many of these infernal beings from their unholy life. After my grogs and I had downed these beings, the magi cast spells to gain information from them. They learned that the creatures were indeed the servants of Vardian, but then I could have told them that without any fancy spells. Finally, we arrived at the sanctum we were heading towards. I saw that it was a huge place, even greater than Certus', and I knew that it could only belong Vardian, or rather to his shade. Without considering the dangers, the magi ordered my grog, Terano, into the sanctum. The moment he set a foot in the door, I saw him fall right over. He lived, barely. I could not believe that the magi had not thought that Vardian might ward his sanctum as they did their own. So, the magi grew very hesitant, and undecided. Looking into the sanctum, they saw that it was empty, and used this as an excuse to quickly leave the place. Finally, the magi began to suspect that they had been lured to this other place, and that the thievery of the vis was little more than a ruse. Finally, they saw that they had drawn away half of the Covenant's fighting force, when it might be needed most. Finally, they understood that the real events might be occuring back in the real Covenant while they were trapped in this infernal imitation. ** ** From the Chronicles of Jonathan de Cantere, dutifully recorded ** by his lowly scribe, Phillipe From the world of divinity, my master, Jonathan, carefully watched the magi who he had stranded in the Middle Marches, and followed them, as they walked up to the place where there Covenant would have been, if they had still been in their own realm. Instead, they came upon Vardian's coven, and he had warded it well before leaving to take his vengeance upon the evil magi, who had wronged him for so long. Thus, the misled magi were at a loss, unable to do the evil that they had planned, and unknowledgable of how to return to their home. It was at this time that my generous master, taking pity upon these people, decided to return. He offered to lead them back to their realm, planning to take them upon a long trip to France, where they could pass through a gate that he knew of there. In return for this great service, Jonathan asked only to be a given a part of the magical essence that they had collected just before he met them, for he knew that his friend, Vardian, valued this essence, and would think well of him if he gained it. But, great Jonathan soon learned that these magi were evil, foul beings, just as Vardian had said. As he lay down to sleep that night, he heard them began to speak, when they thought he had fallen into a deep slumber. He heard them speaking of giving him plain water, instead of the magical essence they had promised. He heard them substitute non-magical vials for the magical ones, and finally, he heard them laughter evil, demonic laughter at his stupidity. As Jonathan fell into he troubled slumber, he swore that he would have his vengenace upon these deceiving wretches. Thus, while Jonathan felt constantly bad about his intended deceit, he knew that it was for the best of reasons, and to the most deserving of people. He brought the treacherous magi up to Rome, to the palace of the one who in the Middle Marches called himself the pope. All of this he did under the promise that it would allow the magi to return to their own realm. And then, in the palace of the March's pope, surrounded by his guards, Jonathan revealed the magi, calling them Christians, and the pope's guards began to descend upon them. ** ** From the Legend of Luigi, as related to his beautiful wife And then, Jonathan, the traitor who had led us to Rome, betrayed us to the evil pope who resided in those lands, and I was set upon by scores of guards. Valiantly, I tried to hold them off, aided by Flamma, and Meles, but, it was to no avail. In my best form, I might have carved a path out of that dark place, but so recently, my heart had been ripped from me, and the wound was still fresh. Still, we fought valiantly, and finally the evil pope was forced to call upon his dark master. He pleaded to his evil lord for a miracle, and then all faded away. When I awoke, I was in a small cell, somewhere deep below the place that we had been betrayed, and I thought that all was lost. My love was gone, and now it seemed that my life was to follow. But, I soon learned that this was not the place of all evil, as it had once seemed to be. A Cardinal came to my cell, and told me that he could give my what I desired most, the return of my beautiful wife, if only I would agree to aid him in the future. It seemed a small cost, for such a great reward, and I was more than happy to agree. It seemed that the men of this land, were simply seeking vassals, to aid them in times of need, as any feudal lord would, for several days later, we were all released. I know that Terano agreed to help them, for he boasted of being given immortality. The rest would not speak of their imprisonment, or what they had been offered, and all seemed suddenly suspicious of each other. I can not understand such revulsion to the exchanging of gifts. It is a custom that encompasses all, from the lowest peasant to great lords as myself. As we set out, from this reflection of Rome, two joined us. The first was Marlon, a magus of the order. The second was Paulo, a Christian priest. They too had been imprisoned, and both said they wished to join us, in returning to our own realm. With some suspicion, the other magi accepted them. Then, the magi led us back down to the Covenant, or at least the false Covenant in this place, and past it, back down to the lake. After deciding that there was nothing new in that place, we returned again to the Covenant, once again completing a circle. Utterly exasperated, I was ready to take command, now that my want to live had returned, since I had been promised that my true love would be brought back to me. But, before I could offer my thoughtful advice, Jonathan de Cantere suddenly returned. ** ** From the Chronicles of Jonathan de Cantere, dutifully recorded ** by his lowly scribe, Phillipe Throughout the next week, my kind master Jonathan kept a careful watch over the magi that Vardian had asked him to mislead. After they were released by the church of the Dark Lands, they wandered for several days in their caverns below Rome, at a loss as to where to go. Finally, benevolent Jonathan took pity on them, and appeared, offering to take them home. For, several weeks had gone by since their arrival, and Jonathan knew that he had delayed them enough. So, despite the fact that these magi had before conspired to betray him, good Jonathan again offered to lead them home, in exchange for the magical essence from the lake. And this time, they agreed, and handed it over to Jonathan at once Jonathan knew of two portals to the world of divinity near Rome, and he told the magi of each. One was on an island to the west, and the other in a cave to the southeast. To the west was guarded by magic, while to the southeast was guarded by a fierce automata. The magi decided to brave the automata who guarded the portal that was a day and a half to the Southeast, near the place called Verdi in the place of divinity. And Jonathan kept his part of the deal, for he is an honorable man, and he led the magi to the fierce guardian of the portal to their own world, and then he left them, to challenge or fall to the guardian on their own. ** ** From The Middle Marches, an Essay by Kridiar of Bonisagus I was first led to The Middle Marches by Arfinn, an elderly Ex Miscellanea mage. He owed my several favors for some studies that I had done him in the past, and this new knowledge was his way of repaying me. An equitable trade it seemed. I had not realized that Arfinn simply planned to free himself of his onus by ridding himself of me. We began to walk, with no apparent direction. He assured me that this was the way to that other realm. As we walked, day turned rapidly to night. In the time since, as I have further explored the Marches, I have found that that is the best way to sense the gap between the worlds. The weather, season and time changes, quickly and violently. Day becomes night, spring becomes winter, and clear sky becomes filled with storm clouds. As we walked into the enclosing night, I felt a weight lay solidly upon my soul. The hedge wizard looked back at me, smiling at my discomfort, and explained that we were much nearer to the Prince of Darkness here. Arfinn's comment would turn out to be very true. As I have continued my studies upon the Middle Lands, I have been told many times that the Marches are the Evil One's creation to mirror our world. They are a place halfway between the Earth and Hell. This is not to say that all of that realm are evil people, for doubtless many have been accidentally lost to the Marches from the true world, as I almost was. For, there I stood, with the weight of Hell solidly upon my soul, standing in the darkness that should have been day, and Arfinn turned back to me and, with an evil lear said, "I have brought you to the Marches, as I have promised, my Lord, and now I bid you sweet adieu." And he was gone. I would learn in time how this hedge wizard accomplished this. It seems, between our world, and the pale copy there lie many gateways. To pass through them, one must be aware of what lies beyond. In the real world, the gateways are guarded by little more than secrecy, although occasionally a band of devil worshippers gather near one, to enjoy the infernal aura. In the Middle Marches, the gates are usually guarded by much more. However, there are those who may move freely between the Middle Marches and the lands of life, and they are the truely damned. Arfinn, doubtless, was one of these, and I now know where his soul resides. ** ** From the Legend of Luigi, as related to his beautiful wife So there we stood, faced with this huge goliath, even larger than the immense dragon which I had recently slain. He stood in front of a low cave, which we knew contained the portal we sought. This, it seemed, was the last obstacle between myself, and my beautiful wife, who it had been promised would be returned to me. I was prepared to slay it with my bare hands if need be. But first, the magi (and even one of my grogs) began casting spells at the immense beast. Acutus, Flamma and Meles all made several attempts, but each spell was drawn into an immense amulet that was a part of the goliath's chest. I was again prepared to leap at the beast when the priest whom we had met in Rome offered to aid us. Paulo said that he would lead the beast away, while the rest of us rushed in. But, he did a poor job. For, only Marlon, Demoror, Antonio and I made it in, and the beast struck me once as I made for the cave, wounding me grievously. I was quite angry, and ready to pick up my sword, walk out, and slay the beast once and for all. But, the magi came up with a better plan than the one that Paulo had suggested. They destroyed the earth under the feet of the goliath, and while he was trapped, the rest of our group rushed in. But, as they were moving in, the goliath freed himself, and charged at them. Fortunately, my brave grog, Terano, who was boasting of his recently gained immortality, turned back, and held off the beast until all others were safe. Finally, he returned to the cave himself, fighting the huge goliath the whole way. It was of course my example that Terano was following. Thus, we walked to the rear of the cave. Finding no exits, sure that Jonathan had again betrayed us, we returned to the front of the cave, but never reached it. For we had indeed been returned to our own realm. As we walked up the tunnel that had once led to the front of the cave, we finally came to a wall of stone. Acutus destroyed it, and due to the sound of breaking bottles on the other side, we soon realized that we were in a wine cellar. We soon learned that this wine cellar was under a magi's hut in Verdi. Panvion was his name, and he was a quite unpleasant fellow. He was upset that we had damaged his wine, and demanded repayment before he would let us cross his lab, which was right above the wine cellar we were in. So, the magi fought lots of their little contests. From what I gathered, Flamma and Marlon both ended up owing service to Panvion. Finally, he was satisfied, and let us leave his wine cellar and go home. ** ** From the Diary of Imanitosi, Prima of Verditius Arctin and I just had the most interesting tea at Panvion's hut. When we arrived, he was very angry because there were some magi stuck in his wine cellar. Magi from Vardian's Tomb, it seems. Panvion was upset because they had destroyed some of his best wine. After several Certamens, which Arctin and I thought were very humorous, Panvion managed to win two seasons of service, and was pleased. Panvion finally let the magi out of his cellar, and as they were leaving, one named Flamma threatened to declare a Wizard's War on him. I explained to her that I was personally concerned about the welfare of all of my magi, and if she were to declare a Wizard's War on one of them, I might be inclined to declare a Wizard's War on her. ** ** From the Legend of Luigi, as related to his beautiful wife On the road back to the Tomb, we were attacked by a strange apparition. It seemed to be Aquilonius, but he had been dead two years at the time. Finally, Flamma was able to banish him. Later, we learned that Vardian, who had been the one who had trapped us in the Middle Marches, while he attacked our Covenant, had some power over the dead. No doubt, this Aquilonius shade had been put here to slow us down, in case we returned. ** ** From the Chronicles of Salvadore, Autocrat of Vardian's Tomb ** Spring, 1202 A council meeting was held approximately a month into Spring, when the younger magi finally returned. I gave a complete report on the casualties of the Covenant in the recent war. Vardian attacked with hordes of skeletons, but was repelled after a bit of fighting. Well he could have killed many if he had made an all out attack on the Covenant, this did not seem to be his objective. Rather, he attempted to fight his way through to Certus' lab, but the elders managed to hold him off. Vardian managed to fade away, as he did the one other time he assaulted our Covenant. Our only casualty was Celino, a grog who had been guarding down by the lab that used to belong to Aquilonius, and was slain so that he could not give a warning. The younger magi said that they had been lost in the Middle Marches, and had been unable to recover the missing vis. Taron stated that no doubt Vardian had conspired to do this, so that a third of their warriors would be gone when the attack came. He further stated that it seemed quite obvious now that Vardian had stolen the vis, to aid in his attack, and now that he had been utterly repelled, it should no longer be an issue. And with all matters settled, the Council was adjourned. ** ** From the Legend of Luigi, as related to his beautiful wife When I returned to my quarters, I found that the promise had been kept. My beautiful wife awaited me there. Again, my heart was whole.