Vardian Log #50: Shining Steel -- "I don't suppose you beat up and rape maidens? That would make me really happy." --Bolo -- Season: Spring, 1214 Dramatis Personae: Black Knight Knight Bolo Warrior (Dave) Certus of Bonisagus Magus Demoror of Quaesitor Magus (Billy) Dragon Snake Elaine Maiden Flamma of Tremere Maga (Eric) Green Knight Knight Iris of Mercere Redcap Isolde Maiden Lucky Cat Luigi Grog Lynette Pixie Lyonors Maiden Manual Captain (Billy) Mercutio Grog Morgan Le Churche Witch Muris Infestus of Verditius Magus (Donald) Ogre Rat Recanto Grog Red Knight Knight Richard the Cat Hearted Knight Robbing Hood Thief Rupes of Tremere Magus Samo Grog Sir Lancelittle Knight Tractare of Tremere Magus Verdan of Bonisagus Magus (Shannon) Victorio Warrior (Don) Vizzini Bard (Scott) ** ** From the Journals of Certus ** Late Winter, 1213 Just when I was hoping that perhaps he had been killed, Luigi has returned once more, this time from his quest with the Seekers. Apparently, the quest was quite successful, for Luigi said that the Seekers had found great treasure. Shortly after Luigi returned, I saw Tolas stomping around, swearing at Demoror and Luigi. It seems that Tolas had known of this treasure, from a poem that Drake had given Demoror, but had given up on it when the Quaesitor lost a certain key. That aspect of the events pleases me, for though it would have been nice to have artifacts of the Old Ones in our Covenant, it would be very bad for Demoror, Rupes and Tolas to actually get something out of betraying me. Perhaps they shall eventually realize that the books they have been asking to study lately are not really gone. Rather, I am punishing them for giving a piece of Vardian's Skull to Drake, rather than to me. ** ** From the Chronicles of Salvadore ** Spring, 1214 It was Certus of Bonisagus who opened the Council Meeting of 1214. He at once began to speak of the upcoming Tribunal, and, glancing at first Arridere, and then Demoror's seat, mentioned that the votes of the Tomb had been unfortunately split in the past. Thus, Certus proposed that all magi of The Tomb throw their sigils into one central pile, and that all of the magi would vote together, at that Council, on certain important issues, and that the sigils would be used thus at the tribunal. There was a bit of argument for a time, but in the end, almost all magi offered their sigils to be used by the Tomb. The four magi who did not were Karantia, Flamma, Tolas and Turbator, all of Tremere. The last does not have his sigil, while the former three all said that their sigils were pledged to Postestas. After the sigils had been collected, several issues were brought up. It was decided first that we shall vote against the Literatus requirement, and second that we shall vote for Harco's nexus of portals, providing they offer sufficient vis and protections. If certamen is brought up, it was decided that we would vote against all changes, and if we can, we shall get the vis exchange of 1200 thrown out. The final matter brought up was of the Flambeau who approached us several years ago, wishing to create a new Covenant named Mercury's Fire. The sigils of Vardian's Tomb shall vote against those magi. The magi of The Tomb who actually attend the Tribunal of 1214 shall decide how to vote upon any additional issues brought up. Certus, Fortunatus and Tractare have each declared that they shall be attending. After matters of the Tribunal were dealt with, Certus announced that he had made Tractare his second in command, and that Tractare would act as the leader at the Tomb whenever Certus was not available. There was considerable surprise at this announcement. Iris of Mercere was brought forward at that time, and as she passed messages to the magi of The Tomb, the Council meeting of Spring, 1214 came to an end. ** ** From the Diary of Verdan of Bonisagus Damn. Damn. Damn. I can't believe that my studies were interupted once again. I am beginning to feel that I shall never be adequate to train an apprentice. At least, due to my longevity potion, I shall not even have to think of the wages of age for at least six decades. It all started when Certus called yet another emergency council meeting, one month into Spring. When we magi all arrived, Certus revealed that this year's retrieval of vis from the lake had run into a snag. Mercutio, Samo and Recanto had been heading down, when they ran into mist, far above the lake. According to Mercutio, Samo and Recanto had both entered, but had never come back. So, Certus needed magi to deal with the problem. And, of course, I felt that I had to volunteer, for some of our poor grogs were in danger. With me, went the magi Flamma and Muris, who both have shown compassion for our grogs in the past. A very odd assortment of companions and warriors joined us as well. I thought it silly at the time, for this was clearly a magic thing. However, it turned out to be very fortunate that the warriors Bolo, Luigi and Manual were along. Victorio and Vizzini proved to be less useful. When we got to the mists, we started trying to figure out how to deal with it. My first theory (which I now know is correct, for the pixie, Lynette, assured me of it's veracity) was that the Imagonem waters from Guiseppe's tower had eventually made their way to the Lake, and when they hit it, caused some strange magical interaction. Thus, I at once cast an Intellego Imagonem spell, trying to see through the mists. It failed, as did Flamma's Perdo Imagonem. Clearly, the spell cast upon Guiseppe's fountain was a great one indeed. Knowing my Imagonem affinity was the greatest, I volunteered to enter the mists. Luigi offered a rope from his grog pack, and after I had tied it around myself, and given the other end to Bolo, I set off. Very soon, I could not see any of my companions. The next thing I knew, the rope went slack. As I pulled it in, I relealised that it had been cleanly broken. I almost panicked, stumbling around for a few minutes in the thick mist. Then, regaining my senses, I put my arms out, so that I could feel the sides of the passages. Carefully backing up, I eventually made my way out of the mist. When I explained what had happened, Flamma volunteered to go in next. She began to concentrate upon a great Auram spell, to keep the mists constantly away from her, and then she moved in, with Bolo just a bit behind her. Despite her spell, the mists eventually encompassed her. By the time we sat down to eat dinner, Flamma and Bolo had still not returned. While we were sitting there, eating, a pixie flew out of the mists. She began to talk with the archer, Victorio. After she had introduced herself as Lynette, she said that her sister, Lyonors, was being sieged by the Evil Red Knight. Then, Lynette asked for our aid. The whole time, Lynette had been speaking, the bard Vizinni had had a strange look on his face. When Lynette finished speaking, he revealed to us that all of the characters that Lynette had described were from tales that were told in France and England. They were from the tales of a king named Arthur. Thus, I became suspicious of the whole thing. Clearly, the Faerie we were talking to was made of Imagonem, as was everything us that we later met. So, I saw little purpose in aiding them, for how could illusions help us be rid of the fog, or recover our grogs? Lynette said that saving her sister would somehow help us to remove the mist, but I had my doubts. The others, seemed to think it would be good to save Lynette's sister, however, so the next thing I knew, we were following the pixie through the mists. It all turned out for the best, I suppose. Eventually, we came to a fountain. Lynette told us that it would shrink us, and that shrinking was required. The others didn't even seem to question this, and they began to drink, and indeed they shrank, as they had been promised. Manual went first, and then Vizzini. But, when Vizzini drank, he fell over, unconscious. Suspicious once again, I asked Lynette about this. She assured me nothing was wrong, so I went ahead and drank from the fountain. And thus, was betrayed. As I shrank, I felt great magical energies affecting me. Suddenly, I was thrown into a Twilight, nearly as great as the one that overcame me in lab years ago. Madness slowly enveloped me. The last thing that I realized, as I fell into darkness, was that this must have been what had happened to Vizzini when he fell. The faerie had betrayed me, and it was not the first time their kind had done such. I would be avenged. When I next woke, I heard Lynette explaining that the fountain we had used was the great Fountain of Youth, for the Fountain of Change had been missing, and that we had decreased in age as well as size. Indeed, I realized that I felt perhaps half a decade younger. However, the youth was in no way worth it, for while I might have gained five years, I had lost over a hundred. My laboratory skills are great enough that it shall be the Final Twilight that eventually takes me, not a Mundane Death. And, I had been catapulted over a hundred years closer to that fate, due to the damned faerie not warning me of the extreme magic within the fountain. Thus, when I woke, assessing my situation, there was only death upon my mind. My own death, perhaps eighty years in the future. I decided to share it with the Faerie who had brought me to that state. Never have I felt such anger. Now, it scares me. But, then, it simply consumed me. Flame lashed forth from me again and again, directed every time at the faerie Lynette. Again, and again, I tried to slay her. Miraculously, every blast of fire missed. It was as if she were warded by a very powerful magic. Eventually, I gave up, utterly frustrated. My anger was gone, but I was still quite morose. When Vizzini began to play his lute, singing with Lynette a few moments later, I snapped it. Since, I have apologized for that action. After my anger was spent, we began following Lynette again (All of us but Victorio, that is, who I learned had refused to drink from the fountain). I really did not have much choice, so I went along. Lynette soon revealed that she was bringing us to Richard the Cat Hearted, who could provide us with weapons (for many of the warrior's weapons had not shrunk with them). However, Richard only gave weapons to those who dueled him. So, our warriors proceeded to fight with Richard. Some, as Vizzini, did poorly, while others, such as Luigi did well. Better armored, we set off again, this time for the Castle Perilous, where Lyonors was being sieged. The ensuring battle was really nothing to talk about. Luigi walked up to the Red Knight and exploded, using his magic armor. And that, was that. For his accomplishment, Luigi won the favor of Lyonors. Then, we turned to Lynette, and asked her how this had helped us to be rid of the mists. Finally, the Faerie began to explain things. A quest, would remove the fog, it seemed, and that quest required a number of things. A questor had to win the favor of a lady, retrieve a magical sword, and fight a worthy foe. When Lynette revealed that Luigi could either kill the Black Knight, capture Morgan Le Church or get a knight named Lancelittle to surrender to complete the last part of the quest, we began to make plans. But first, we decided to retrieve the weapon Lynette had spoken of. Lynette led us to a magic fountain, rather like the one we had earlier drank from, but shorter. Luigi waded out into the water, and a hand rose up, bearing a sword. He quickly collected it. Before we left, Manual got a sword as well. Then, we decided that to complete his quest, Luigi would meet the Black Knight. Apparently the Black Knight was quite a scoundrel, and would only attack a single foe, so we sent Luigi off alone. When we heard the explosion a bit later, we went to find Luigi, but he was gone. When we became angry at Lynette once more, she finally explained the rest of this puzzle. It seems that the quest we had undergone was not a quest to free the caves from mists, but rather a quest for a magic reward. And, Luigi had not requested what we desired to have. I must say, I was furious at the time. It turned out later (for we did not see Luigi again until we returned to the Covenant) that Luigi had asked for a flaming sword. Fortunately, Lynette told us that there were still two more foes to meet, two more favors to win, and two more swords to be got (Actually, Manual had one of them). Clearly, the reward from one of these quests could be used to free us from the mist. I, meanwhile, began to wonder if the other quest could be used to undo what the Faerie's awful fountain had done to me. When we returned to Sir Richard's, we found Bolo. He told us that he and Flamma had gotten lost from each other in the mists, and that he had eventually drunken from a fountain and shrunk. Since then, he had encountered many creatures, including Sir Robbing Hood and his Merry Mice, and Sir Lancelittle. We were quite happy when we learned that Bolo was already on the way to completing a quest. By attacking the Green Knight, it seems, he had won the favor of one named Lady Elaine. So, we quickly retrieved the last sword for Bolo, and then set out for the Castle of Morgan Le Church, for we had decided that that was the quest we would finish. As we walked, we explained to Bolo how he would be given what he wished when the quest ended. We made it quite clear that we wished to mists to be gone. When he complained that he had been hoping for a beautiful faerie woman, I promised to find him a young lady in Rome. Morgan Le Church's castle was surrounded by a forest of black mushrooms. They gave us some slight troubles, but eventually we made it to the Castle. There, guarding the gate, was Recanto, one of our missing grogs. I was quite relieved, for, I must confess, I had all but forgotten about Samo and Recanto, so worried was I about the mists and my twilight. It was good to find the first of the two, unhurt. He was entranced, however, and Muris and I were forced to knock him unsconcious with spells. He did recover from that, however, after we removed him from Morgan's clutches. After we knocked out Recanto, we entered the Castle, and almost at once, we were faced with a fierce dragon. All of us tried to flee except Bolo, who bravely walked up to, and through the Dragon. It was an illusion, as was the Giant Cat which attacked us minutes later. We came to Morgan, and she put up no further fight. Lynette notified us that we must take the captured witch to the Lady in the Lake, who had been giving out the swords, and so we did. And then, Bolo disappeared. Unlike Luigi, however, Bolo reappeared quickly. He told us that the mists would be gone as long as he lived. By that time, I had convinced the others to help me to complete a quest of my own, so that I could try and remove the grave damage that had been done to me. After I got Manual to loan me his sword, we set off to gain Isolde's favor. We learned that to gain it, we must set off after a fierce Dragon and a savage Lion. But, of course, we were not human sized, but rather the size of pixies, and so a Dragon and Lion were not truly what we faced. Rather, we met a Snake and a Cat. The Snake I slew quickly, after Muris put it to sleep, but the cat was more of a problem. First, it almost killed Vizzini, then, when it was unconscious, I found that I could not kill it. So, I spoke with the faerie for a while, and finally learned that if we promised to carry the kitten off, we could gain the favor of Isolde, but not until the rest of the Quest was done. So, we located one of the fountains in the valley and shrank the cat. Still, it was as large as any of us, but not huge, as it had been when we found it. And then, we dragged it around, as we decided how to finish the quest. At first I tried to use trickery to finish off Lancelittle, by asking the Green Knight, who had been threatening Bolo, to retrieve him for me. Unfortunately, the Green Knight returned with his own head under his arm. We tried spells next, but that failed as well. So, we decided that Bolo instead would complete the quest. I had not wanted him to before, for I had not trusted him to ask for what I wanted. I should have. Bolo did not want to fight Sir Lancelittle however, so we decided to wait until the Black Knight revived in a week. And thus, we would complete the final quest. The Black Knight was really little trouble for Bolo, despite his treachery, but when we then went to retrieve the favor from Isolde, we learned that we had not done enough, for I had killed the "Dragon," not he. So, Isolde gave us a new quest, and, still dragging the kitten around, we went off to face a Ogre. It was truly a rat, and died quickly. When we retrieved the favor afterwards, our final quest was done. Bolo disappeared, and the next thing I knew, I was becoming older. When I had regained my former age, I felt heartier and stronger. Truly, it seemed that the effects of my unfortunate twilight were gone. Soon afterwards, we returned to the Covenant. The mists were gone, and we learned that Flamma, while wandering around, had managed to retrieve our other missing grog, Samo. Thus, everything was back to normal, almost exactly as it had been before. Still, this adventure has taught me once more to distrust, and perhaps even dislike Faeries. Every time I have met them, they have caused troubles for me. Varanor's Tomb has wasted my time, while Faerie-Made lizards almost killed me. And then, there was this most recent escapade. I think I shall be less merciful towards Faeries in the future. What harm does death do them anyways, when they just return, as we all saw the Black Knight do? ** ** From the Diary of Verdan of Bonisagus The kitten which we were forced to fight down in the Faerie Lands has taken a liking to me. I am quite pleased for I was enthralled by the fuzzball at once. I have named him Lucky, and he has decided to take up residence with Sadie, Specula and me. ** ** From the Journals of Certus A Wizard War has been declared by Demoror of Quaesitor upon Rupes of Tremere. I knew that there was dislike between the two, but I amazed it has come this far. Especially so, because I have made it quite clear in the past that I do not want magi of my Covenant killing each other. I think I may have to show Demoror a bit more displeasure than I have been. A chat with Rupes is definitely required as well. At the least, no deaths will come from this. Rupes at once headed to Flamma, to hide in her Little Box of Tranquil Dwelling. When the war is over, I shall have to see if I can convince the two to live with each other. ** ** From the Journals of Verdan of Bonisagus As promised, I went to Rome, and found a beautiful young lady for Bolo. However, I am now quite confused, for when I left her with Bolo, they at once seemed to hit it off. The next thing, I knew, however, the woman had taken up with Foder. She now seems to hang on the old archaeologist's every word. Quite strange. ** ** From the Lab Notes of Verdan of Bonisagus It seems that once more my work towards gaining an apprentice shall be put off. Due to what Bolo did for me, I feel great obligation. Thus, I now plan to make him a Longevity potion. I think I can make him a fairly good one, despite him being a Mundane. Especially since I have convinced Muris, Domita and Tolas all to help me construct it. Additionally, it seems that the other younger magi have all released my skill with Potions of Longevity, for I have promised Rupes that I will make him one, and Domita that I will aid her on hers. Between these, the potion I made for myself, and the potion that I made for Turbator last year, it seems that all I have been doing lately is fighting the ravages of age. I think I shall do a bit more study of Intellego and Corporem before I make these latest potions, for it is becoming quite obvious that Longevity Potions are something that I will continue to make in years to come. Perhaps even for decades or centuries.