Vardian Log #29: A Plague on Both Your Houses -- "I don't know many priests that turn bodies to Jello." --Anonymous -- Season: Winter, 1206 Dramatis Personae: Antony Grog Antony Malatestos Noble Aroturo Priest Avisis Apprentice (Donald) Calios of Bonisagus Magus (Scott) Cardinal Redalpho Cardinal Delera of Tytalus Magus (Donald) Demoror of Quaesitor Magus (Billy) Diamo Priest Fortunatus Magus Luke of Jerbiton Magus Luritia Malatestos Niece Pietro Grog Rupes of Bjornaer Magus (Shannon) Servola Autocrat (Eric) Sophia Malatestos Maiden Turelli Grog Vates of Criamon Magus (Chris) ** ** From the Chronicles of Salvadore Vates of Criamon took the warrior Avisis as his apprentice shortly after her return from the Middle Marches. According to the other magi of the Tomb, she has never had the Gift, and still does not, but by the Code of Hermes, she is now officially an apprentice, and any harm to her may be dealt with in the official Hermetic manner. ** ** From Rupes' Book During the season of Winter, 1206, Luke of Jerbiton came to me and asked a favor. He said that the husband of his niece, Luritia, had fallen ill, and that he was a bit worried, because he had heard rumors of a plague in Padua, where Luritia lived. Thus, he needed someone to look into the problem, and could not do so himself because he was working with Cardinal Redalpho, who believed that something was going on within the Church. I was of course happy to help Luke out, for of all of the elders, he is the one I respect the most, and thus I set out to get some others to aid me in this task. When I did this, I realized that things have changed since I first came to the Tomb. Then, few were willing to help their elders unless they were forced to. This time, however, I found that Calios, Delera and Demoror were all eager to aid me. So, the four of us collected together the grogs Antony, Pietro and Turelli, and prepared to leave. Servola, our new autocrat, insisted upon going as well, for she had never seen Padua before. The trip to Padua was pleasant enough. However, as soon as we reached the city, we realized that we might already be too late. At the gates of the city, we had to step off of the road to let a funeral procession go by. When we asked who had died, we learned that the funeral was for the man that we had been sent to see, Luritia's husband. As we approached Luritia's house, we could not help but notice the opulence. Seeing our stares, Servola said that Luritia's husband was a member of the Malatestos family, and that they were quite rich and influential. Hearing of this, I decided to present myself as Lord Rupes of the Bjornaer Valley. The tact worked, for we were quickly admitted. At about that time, Antony and Servola took off, saying that they would get rooms for us at a nearby inn. We were led to Luritia, and soon learned that she had fallen victim to the plague as well. A priest was praying over her, and it seemed that she was not far from death. As we sat there, trying to decide upon on our next move, Luritia returned to conciousness for a moment. She mumbled the name 'Antony' and then fell back into delirium. After talking with the servants, I learned that Antony Malatestos was Luritia's brother-in-law, and thus I set off to bring him to Luritia. I found Antony also abed, although not nearly as sick as Luritia. When I entered, he was surrounded by doctors of the law, as well as a surgeon and a priest. He seemed to be quite a busy man, despite his sickness. I told him that Luritia wished to see him, and he made preparations to attend her. Soon, he had collected a number of servants to carry him to Luritia's house, and we left. On the way to Luritia's house, Calios, who I had left with Luritia, ran up to me. I excused myself for a moment, and he told me of what had occured in Luritia's room while I was gone. It seems that Delera and Demoror had decided to burn some vis, and permanently cure Luke's niece of her plague. Unfortunately, they decided that Demoror would be the one to cast the spell. When he cast the spell, something went horribly wrong, and Luritia was killed. No doubt, Demoror was confused by some Criamon enigma at the last moment, and put his thoughts into that rather than his spell. I did not want to explain to these Mundanes of Luritia's magical death, and so I returned to Antony, acting as if I expected Luritia to still be alive. After we were let into the house by Luritia's servants, who had not yet realized that she was dead, we went up to her room. Calios' story did not prepare me for what I saw. For a second, I thought I had come upon the scene of some grotesque massacre. Luritia was not just dead. Her body had been turned to bloody porridge, and was leaking all over the bed. For a second, I thought that Delera, Demoror, and Diamo, the priest who had been praying over Luritia, were dead as well, but after closer inspection, I realized that they were simply unconcious. No doubt, the magi had knocked themselves out so that they would not be blamed for Luritia's murder. For a moment, I thought I would be sick, but finally I managed to control myself. Most of the Mundanes, including Antony, fell to the ground, fainting from the shock of the horrific scene before us. I stood in shock for a time. At some point, Calios returned with the grogs, and began to wake those who were unconcious. As we returned to the inn, Delera and Demoror each protested that they did not kill Luritia. Calios assures me they did, and he is quite a bit more trustworthy than either of the others. And then, things became strange. While we were sitting in the inn, trying to decide if there was anything else that we could do, Fortunatus came in, led by Pietro. It seems that Fortunatus had been in Padua to visit Antony Malatestos, and that Pietro had sought him out. Fortunatus began to accuse our grog Antony, saying that he was responsible for all of the deaths in Padua. Antony is originally from Padua, and that is why we had taken him on this expedition. According to Fortunatus, his entire family, but himself, had been killed in a feud with the Malatestos. Fortunatus went on to say that the only people dying from this plague were members of the Malatestos family, like Luke's niece, and the Antony that Fortunatus had come to see. Antony denied the accusations, but since we have learned, that in some way, Antony did manage to curse the Malatestos while in the Middle Marches. It seems that the death of that clan has been for many years his greatest wish. Yet, Antony's tragedy had not quite ended. It seems that when we first entered the city, passing the Malatestos funeral procession, Antony saw a beautiful girl, and fell deeply in love with her. That night, after Fortunatus had left, Antony snuck off to meet young Sophia Malatestos. Antony did not return the next morning, and so we were forced to leave without him. However, he arrived back at the Covenant only a few days after us, with his wife, Sophia, who was beginning to sicken from the Malatestos plague that Antony himself had caused. ** ** From the Journals of Fortunatus Thanks to a Hermetic ritual, and a bit of vis, it looks as if Antony Malatestos shall live. I was a bit worried for a time, for he was so shaken by the manner of Luritia's death, and worried that he would end up as she did. Now, he has told me that his daughter, Sophia, has disappeared, and he is doing all that he can to find her.