Dance of the Dead

Seasons: Winter, 1221 to Winter, 1222

[From THE ROLLS OF DRAGONS RISE]:

Full Members:

Angus of Bonisagus			Lab Worker		(Don)
Arturo of Mercere			Protector		(John)
Demoror of Quaesitor			Teacher			(Billy)
Dubius of Criamon			Protector		(Woo)
Fabricatio of Verditius			Head Lab Worker
Flamma of Tremere			Head Protector		(Eric)
Malcolm of Jerbiton			Lab Worker		(Matt)
Meles of Criamon			Protector
Musculus of Quaesitor			Protector		(ChrisF)
Nicholi of Jerbiton			Teacher			(John)
Tolas of Tremere			Leader
Verdan the Seeker			Lab Worker		(Shannon)

Associate Members:

Adric of Jerbiton			Chancellor		(Kevin)
Muris of Verditius			Lab Worker		(Donald)
Selwyne of Merinita			Faerie Envoy		(ChrisV)

Apprentices:

Primus					Apprentice of Tolas

Mundane Leaders:

Arkum the Fox				Autocrat		(Shannon)
Luigi, Iron Grog			Grog Captain
					Guardian of Flamma
					
Mundanes:

Abruzzo, Silver Grog			Guardian of Selwyne
Andre, Silver Grog			Covenant Guardian	(Matt)
Beneletto, Silver Grog			Guardian of Malcolm
Faccio					Woodsman
Guiseppe, Copper Grog			Guardian of Angus
Iago, Copper Grog			Guardian of Tolas
Jocopo, Mercury Grog			Guardian of Demoror
Luke					Son of Flamma & Tolas
Samson, Mercury Grog			Covenant Guardian
Segunda					Daughter of Flamma & Tolas
Turelli, Iron Grog			Guardian of Marlon

Other Creatures:

Tara					Dragon

				* * *

[Dramatis Personae]:

David of Ex Miscellanea			Seeker
Francois of Merinita			Magus
Gaetano of Bonisagus			Seeker
Gustari of Ex Miscellanea		Seeker
Luke of Jerbiton			Magus
Quarere of Tremere			Seeker
Raul of Ex Miscellanea			Seeker
Shen					Seelie Prince
Toni					Child
Tofu					Imp
Tofu's Chicken				Chicken
Tomasso					Werewolf
Venaria of Bjornar			Maga
Viator					Sage

				* * *

[A Timeline of Seekers]:

Summer, 1212	Drake, the Black Dragon, leaves an old poem at Vardian's
		Tomb, hinting at Seeker treasures, along with a key.
			-Vardian Log #47, "Tea with the Black Dragon"

Spring, 1213	Raul of Ex Miscellanea demands the key that Drake left.
		Demoror destroys it.  Luigi later journeys with these
		Seekers, for his travels provide them with a clue
		to the resting place of an Old One.
			-Vardian Log #48, "A Trip to Literatus"

Winter, 1213	Luigi returns, telling of the great treasures that the
		Seekers found in their journeys.
			-Vardian Log #50, "Shining Steel"

Fall, 1218	The Seeker, Gaetano of Bonisagus, causes the near destruction
		of a village in the South when he loots a grave.
			-Rise Log #2, "The Tides of Time"

Spring, 1220	Reginald of Verditius, another Seeker, causes Dragon's Rise
		grief due to his associations with a vampire.  At the 		conclusion of the episode, Verdan declares himself a Seeker,
		and begins to send out invitations, asking Seekers to come to
		Dragon's Rise.
			-Rise Log #7, "The Paper Chase"

				* * *

[From THE DICTATIONS OF ARKUM]:

Winter's council meeting was a short one.  Vis was divided and Muris
was made a Probationary Member.  His position is Lab worker, and all
of the magi of the covenant expect him to excel in that job.  After
the council meeting was ended, we all retired to the roof for a
pleasant afternoon of tea and talk.

				* * *

[From THE DIARY OF VERDAN OF BONISAGUS]:

In the new Spring of 1222, our covenant was blessed with a new
joining.  Flamma's daughter, Segunda, was married to the Merinita
Selwyne.  The ceremony, which Tolas performed, was a pleasant one.
For a time, I was nearly overcome by sad memories of the past.  That
quickly passed, though, and I was able to join the others in feeling
joy for the lucky couple.

				* * *

[From THE RISE LOGS OF TOLAS OF TREMERE]:

It seems that when the farmers were complaining about poor crops last
year, they were not exaggerating.  Spring is now upon us, and new
crops are failing to grow, leaving us in a poor state.  It is quite
unfortunate that Flamma left last week for her grand tour of the
Order.  I hope that we are able to work our way through this crisis
without her.

Unfortunately, the crisis seems a large one, for the famine is not
confined to our land alone.  All of Sardinia seems plagued by poor
harvests.  Both Meles and the dragon Tara have left, each saying that
they wish to help the people starving across Sardinia.

As the situation across Sardinia has worsened, I have found myself
plagued by visions on a nightly basis.  They are always the same.

I am sitting in my council chamber, at Dragon's Rise.  Most oddly, a
large number of trees at seated at the table.  We are conversing of
great matters that I can never recall when I awake.  Then, the scene
shifts.  Before me is a field, filled with the dead.  As I watch, they
stand again and begin to work.  As I see these scenes, I hear a poem
being repeated again and again.  It is now so deeply ingrained in my
mind, that I am sure that I have every word correct.  It reads as
follows:

	In soul's lost land
	Beyond the realm of shattered bodies
	Lies a land
	Without nuance
	Without shadow
	Evil lies without rest
	Eternal sleep calls
	The earth beckons
	The island maker
	Inside the demiurges' worksop
	The eyes stare
	There are no eyes here
	Brave death rewarded

I have spoken with the other magi about this rhyme, but they have been
most unhelpful.  It seems that somewhere, bodies are not being
correctly buried.  Beyond that, I can say little.  I am deeply
concerned about the situation in Sardinia, for my vision seems to
point to some mystical cause.  For now, though, I feel that I can only
sit and wait.

				* * *

[From THE DIARY OF VERDAN OF BONISAGUS]:

It was near two years ago that I first named myself a Seeker.  It was
then that I sent out an invitation to all Seekers in the Order.  Now,
that invitation has been responded to, not once, but twice.  It has
been a busy couple of days.

Two days ago, I was sitting in lab, working, when I heard a knock upon
my door.  Looking up, I saw an old fellow, dressed all in black.  He
seemed distracted, musing over a clod of dirt, mumbling that it was
bad.  I politely waited for him to complete his ruminations, and then
bid that he enter my lab.

The man was named Viator.  He had stopped by because he had heard of
my request for information.  He was simply passing through, but happy
to spend a few hours chatting with me about the Seekers.  I learned
that Viator was simply a sage, not a Seeker or a Hermetic magus.
Apparently, he had been told not to do magic when he refused to join
the Order.  Still, Viator was a great storehouse of knowledge.  I was
most unhappy to see him leave that evening.  I do think, however, that
I have convinced him to return some time soon, to teach the lore of
the Seekers to all of us.

That night, I was very pleased.  I realized that I had been very lucky
to actually have a Seeker respond to my queries.  When a second Seeker
showed up the next day, I was absolutely astounded.

The second Seeker was named Raul, and I recognised him from back at
Vardian's Tomb.  He and Demoror had had some sort of altercation
regarding a key.  I was quite pleased with Raul, for not only did he
want to teach me of the Seekers, but he also wanted to join Dragon's
Rise.  However, I was worried of conflicts that might arise between
Demoror and Raul.  So, we headed to Angus' lab, where Raul apologized
profusely to Demoror.  The Quaesitor was good enough to take that
apology.  With that matter out of the way, I called a Council Meeting.

				* * *

[From THE RISE LOGS OF TOLAS OF TREMERE]:

When Verdan called the second council meeting of Spring, 1222, I
expect some irrelevent matter to be discussed.  It seems that Verdan's
mind easily latches upon the most inconsequential things.  Thus, I was
pleasantly surprised when we were presented with a matter of genuine
importance.

With him, Verdan had a Seeker by the name of Raul.  Raul wished to
join our covenant, and offered to pay with knowledge.  He claimed that
he knew of some ancient magic theory, learned in the tomb of an Old
One.  If we would accept him as a member, he would pass on that
knowledge to the rest of the covenant.  To me, it seemed like a great
trade, for such knowledge could be very good for our covenant.  Raul
has thus been accepted as an Associate Member of Dragon's Rise.  He is
currently in one of our guest labs, teaching Malcolm, and my son,
Primus, while working upon some magic item.

The towers of our Covenant, which once seemed so spacious, are now
filled to overflowing.  When Flamma returns next Spring, it will be
time to create a third one.

				* * *

[From THE RISE LOGS OF TOLAS OF TREMERE]:

I should not be surprised by the fact that Verdan has once again
caused me problems.  Five weeks ago, he convinced me to accept a
Seeker named Raul as an Associate Member.  I had some
misapprehensions, but I decided to listen to the Bonisagus.  Today,
Arturo brought me a letter from Magvillus.  It said that Raul had been
possessed by some creature while investigating the Old Ones.  They
wanted to know the location of the false Raul so that the real one
could be restored to his proper body.

I was quite upset, for if I had turned Raul over to Magvillus at once,
five weeks of Primus' valuable apprenticeship would have been wasted.
Even worse, the knowledge that Raul had been teaching him would have
been lost.  So, I engaged in a bit of subterfuge.  I spent the entire
afternoon writing letters.  When I was done, there was a huge number
of them.  One of these letters was addressed to Magvillus, notifying
them that Raul was with us.  I instructed Arturo to deliver that
particular letter last.  Hopefully, enough time will be wasted that
Primus may actually learn some of the secrets that the false Raul is
teaching.

				* * *

[From THE DICTATIONS OF ARKUM]:

It has been reported to me today, on the fortieth day of Spring, 1222
t