About House October (27 Sep 2001) Elinor visits Tom's tree house.

Elinor, wearing her usual calf-length skirt and plain blouse, walks along the dirt path, peering alternately at a homemade map in her hand, and at the trail ahead. "Tom?" she calls out as she nears the big tree, though her call carries little more force than a normal kid's speaking voice.

"Be right down!" comes a muffled reply. A minute or so later, the silence is broken again by the rustling of branches. The base of the elevator of the tree house breaks through the leaves of the lower branches and slowly settles to the ground. Tom grins, running a hand through his spiky hair and says, "Sorry, I like showing this off. Dad helped me design it. I got the idea from the pulleys that were in the junk I got to build it. Hop in and I'll take you up."

The young woman blinks at the materialized Tom. "My," she remarks. She steps onto the platform of the elevator next to Tom, gazing curiously at the rigging around it. "You built this yourself?"

"Well, with my Dad's help, anyway. I couldn't have done it all myself," Tom admits. He takes a breath and starts cranking the winch. The elevator creaks, then slowly starts to rise. After it's up a few feet, Tom asks, "Is everything okay at the Travisons? You seemed nervous around them. Of course, I might just be imagining it."

"Oh, no, they are very nice. It's just..." She shifts the traveler's bag on her shoulder, glancing at the branches of the tree. She takes a few moments to think before continuing, "I believe ... I am afraid of what they would think if they knew. And that if I talk about ... Ruritania, with you or the others, they may start to wonder. I suppose that is silly. You talk about wondrous lands and strange creatures all the time, and the adults think nothing of it."

"Well, because mine don't exist. It's hard to believe such things do, you know. After all, look at how long I took to realize. Brainwashed by the common opinion, I guess. The older you get, the harder it gets to just believe. I think they'd probably shrug it off, but you never know. It's why I wanted to give that note to you, to be honest. I don't want them prying too much," Tom says slowly, looking out over the landscape just before it vanishes into the trees. "I'd be lying if I said I'm not slightly afraid of your ... Ruritania. I hope that will fade when I come to know more about it. I've had so little to judge on and some pretty scary experiences lately."

The base of the tree house looms above and Tom slows down the lift to let the top of it ease into the opening.

"It's not really a scary place," Elinor answers, taking the first opportunity to peek at the tree house as the elevator enters it. "At least ... it didn't used to be -- before the King went away, and Winter came. I guess now it's a little less ... inviting, than it used to be."

"Well, all I've had to judge from have been the things I've seen. The 'jruuh' attack, the scarecrow, and now the wolf," Tom says as he looks up. The elevator creaks a couple times but eases up nicely into the tree house. Tom holds the winch and secures it in place with a rope. He lets go slowly and it drops about an inch before the rope is taut enough to keep it from moving further. Shafts of sunlight filter through the windows, lighting up the empty interior of tree house. It's painted white, a suggestion by his mother to make it appear larger than it is. "It's not much," Tom comments, "but it's a place where it's pretty safe to talk, away from prying eyes and ears."

"I like it," Elinor says, stepping off the elevator platform and into the room. She sets her bag on the floor, beside one of the walls, and walks to a window. "It's cozy." She rests her arms on the opening of the window, looking out and closing her eyes.

Tom walks slowly across the floor, footsteps echoing softly. When he reaches a wall, he leans his back up against it and folds his arms in front of himself. He watches the girl for a minute, then says, "I brought you here because I wanted to learn about your world, its Houses, and its people. I think I've met House December now, a wolf that was spying on Alice. I was crazy to do what I did, but I went after it and ended up face-to-face with it. It reacted to the House I mentioned, so I'm guessing that's where it's from. I also found the Siege it used later on, and its den."

The girl opens her eyes soon after Tom starts to talk, then turns to face him, her eyes widened in surprise. "A wolf?" She leans against the wall beside the window. "What -- how did you know to ask if it was of December? And what Siege did it come through?"

Tom shrugs lightly. "It reacted to the name. It was a wolf, so it's a good guess it would be a winter-time house. As for the Siege, it was out in the woods a ways. I followed the wolf's prints to the Siege; it was just three circles of flattened grass, nothing at the center ... which seems odd, but that's what I found," he explains.

"It was Agatha who first thought it would be something like House December. We found wolf fur when we were working; that's why we followed it. I decided to see if the name would have a reaction," Tom adds.

"Flattened ... grass." Elinor bites her lip and hugs her arms. "The Siege of Wind ... wolves are the animals of House December," she confirms. "And that makes two times in recent memory that the Siege of Wind has been opened." The fey girl shakes her head. "What was he like, this wolf?"

"Really, really, really, big," Tom says, "and white. I got a real good look, as I ended up only two feet away from it. It was even weirder that I could seem to understand it and it didn't even speak," Tom says slowly. "It was spying on Alice, I think. She was alone in the field. When Agatha and I tracked the wolf to that spot, I went off after it. I didn't like the idea of her being near it; it could've harmed her so easily."

"A white wolf ... and he came through the Siege of Wind," Elinor murmurs, half to herself. "I see why he would have frightened you. But you were not harmed -- nor Alice? You are all well?"

Tom shakes his head. "No, we weren't harmed. But, it did make a 'comment' that it had a pack, but not nearby. Kind of a veiled threat, almost. It was looking for the King as well. That makes two houses actively looking for the King, and one house not wanting the others to look for the King." Tom takes a breath, then says, "So far, House October is the only one we've met with a somewhat different agenda." Tom raises a hand and says, "And I'm not making an accusation here. It's just interesting that two are actively looking and one isn't. It could mean a lot of things and not necessarily bad things about your House. I'm trying to figure out what it means. So, would you be willing to tell me about your House and its people?"

Elinor nods. "Certainly. And ... you are right. House October is one of the few Houses that does not seek the King. We believe he left for a cause, and not out of cowardice or whimsy. Whatever his motives were, he clearly has not achieved his objective yet. Others ... disagree." She smoothes her skirt over her legs, before taking a seat on the floor with her legs curled beneath her. "What did you wish to know about us first?"

"Well, what are the people like in general? What are the lands like?" Tom asks, still leaning up against the wall. He then adds, "Why did they send you? How do they know about us?"

The fey girl chuckles at the spate of questions. "The land is not unlike Ainigton," she answers. "The island of Avarre, for example, is real. It lies within the province of House October, to the north of the palace, which is at the heart of Mirari. The people ... well, the folk of Mirari are greatly varied. We are ... not exactly a peaceful folk. The houses do not always get along well. But our squabbles -- they are not like the wars of your world. We value life dearly. We are not a murderous people." She gives a shudder. "A House might capture its enemies and hold them for ransom, to make a point, but they would not kill them."

Tom nods. "Well, that's relieving, at least ... although it doesn't explain the fact that Agatha was using a real sword to fend off those Golems."

Elinor gives a wan smile. "I cannot vouch for the circumstances of that encounter, I fear -- I do not know exactly what happened. But my guess would be that the golems intended to capture them -- and possibly only to capture Tristan. I am sure, if these were creatures of October, they did not mean to harm Agatha. That Tristan used a true sword -- well, fey folk are much harder to kill than we appear. A sword may be deadly force among your kind, but it is not among mine. And you will remember that the golems used no such weapons on them."

"Well, I don't know if they used weapons or not; I wasn't there," Tom says. He then shakes his head softly. "And that's another thing. If someone does mean ill to the King, I fear for myself and my friend's safety. Who's to say they won't go through us to get to the King?"

"Leaf golems do not use weapons," Elinor says knowledgeably. "How would someone go 'through' you to get to the King?" she asks, sounding curious. "You are not his guards. Are you?"

"No, but if we somehow find out where he is, we may become targets," Tom says.

"If you somehow find out where he is ... then there are those who will try to make you tell them," Elinor admits, slowly. "But my House, at least, will not force you to anything. We do not even want to know where the King is!" She turns her head from his. "But that is not what you wish to hear, is it? I do not know what to tell you. I do know, that if it came to force, I and my House would do all that we could to aid you, and we are not the only House that feels so. What House April is capable of...." She gives a heavy sigh, dropping her chin.

Tom slides down the wall and sits heavily onto the floor. "I'm just trying to understand," Tom says softly, "These are my friends ... I feel responsible for them. Agatha I'm certain can take care of herself. Simon, well, he knows when to run. Alice ... I worry for her. I don't want to see something bad happen to any of them." He sighs softly, "I'm not trying to be a jerk. I like you, Elinor, a lot. I want to help you. That's why I'm sitting here, talking with you. I want to know of your people. I want to learn of them. The more we know of them, the more we might be able to find out why the King left. I'm trying to figure out how we can help -- and what we might encounter along the way so everyone remains safe." Slowly, he scoots himself over next to the girl and says quietly, "And fine job I'm going of it all. I hurt you and just make Agatha mad at me all the time."

The fey girl waves her hand. "It is not your fault, Thomas," she offers, with a wan smile. "I am ... trying to think of what I can tell you, that will help. Let me think. One thing about the folk of Mirari -- we follow rules. Not the way you have rules at your school, or rules at home -- we have rules that we cannot break. Different rules for different people, and some are known, and some aren't. I suppose that's not too helpful, is it? Perhaps if I gave you an example..." She bites her lip, then says, "One of our rules: What I say three times is true."

The boy gives Elinor a rather odd look. "Ooo-kay," he says slowly, "That's certainly interesting and is helpful, I suppose." He leans back against the wall and says, "And as for being helpful, tolerating my curiosity is very helpful." He shrugs softly and says, "You've given me a couple things to think on. One other thing I am curious about: how did Mirari come to know of us?"

She starts to answer, then pauses. "That's -- maybe I should clarify that. I cannot repeat the same thing three times in a row unless it's true, and I know that it's true. But that doesn't mean that anything I can't say three times is false ... just that I'm not positive it's true. Like ... I couldn't say either 'Jruuh are real' or 'Jruuh aren't real' three times, even though one of those has to be true. I'm just not sure what it was. Anyway -- we found out about you through your game. We were drawn to you because your stories echoed some of our land -- what you dreamed, for us, was real. We do not know what caused it -- if we shaped your dreams, or you shaped our world."

"But how could we shape your world?" Tom says, confused, "I would think that would mean we have some sort of tie there. How that could be, I don't know." He shrugs. "I hope to find the answer to who shaped who sometime." He runs his hand through his hair, trying to get it to settle down for a change, and asks, "So, there really are a Golden Hawks group? I mean, I made that name up on the spot."

Elinor nods. "There really is. I am one of them, though the Golden Hawks have been scattered for ... some time. It was founded by Lord Explorer Thomas. But on his last journey, a very long time ago, when he went past the mountains in the West, he never returned."

Tom blinks. He then blinks again. "How long ago?" he asks.

"Fourteen of our Years. I know that does not seem so long to you, but in Mirari, years are much longer than here. The Lord Explorer is but a legend for many of my people," Elinor answers.

"That's ... freaky," Tom says. He shifts nervously. "What did he supposedly look like?"

"He was human-like, as I am, with black hair and a roguish air, or so I am told. They say he was a handsome man, perpetually youthful and full of energy, with a true passion for exploring." Her eyes flicker over Tom as she speaks.

Tom fidgets uncomfortably. "I find that really, uh," Tom stammers, "I'm fourteen, but as you said, the years don't match. And I had thought once, that maybe we affected your world because perhaps all of us has in our family tree, someone who came from your world long ago. That's crazy, right?"

The fey woman smiles, but her expression seems troubled.

Tom looks at Elinor. "What?"

"I do not think it likely," Elinor says, her voice low, "if only because ... well. I am from Mirari and I do not have this odd ... link ... with the land. At the least, I did not until I came here." Her smile turns lopsided. "Perhaps there is something to that, after all."

Tom nods and shrugs. "Then it must be pure coincidence that I chose the names I did. What my name is, and so on," he says slowly. "Wait ... you have a link there now?"

"I ... no. I do not know. Alice said I should be an oracle in the game. I am not an oracle, Thomas. I am a linguist. But when we played, I made a prophesy. Maybe it wasn't a real prophesy, but...." She shrugs.

The boy nods slowly. "Yeah, I know. That was really strange. I don't know what to think. It seems so ... strange to think that I could be more than just, well, Tom the local outdoor nut. That can't really be even possible, can it?" Tom asks to himself as well as Elinor. After a moment's pause, he shrugs. "And would it matter, anyway? Thanks for putting up with my questions, Elinor. I hope I haven't gotten on your nerves too much with them. I'll go ahead and warn you: I think Agatha also has questions for you."

Tom then stands and stretches and mutters softly, "And you know, I think our next best option would be to find a way back to Mirari and try to find out why the King left. Maybe we should wait and talk to Agatha before really discussing that." Tom smiles. "Before it gets too late, I'm still going to hold you to showing me those things from Mirari." With that, Tom settles back down on the floor, spending the remainder of time before dinner looking over the items Elinor brought.

Previous Log: Visiting Elinor	Next Log: Optikons and Wolves

Thread Links
	Previous Log: Redmane's Quest Next Log: Testing the Optikon		Previous Log: Visiting Elinor Next Log: Testing the Optikon
	Previous Log: Visiting Elinor Next Log: Optikons and Wolves		Previous Log: Visiting Elinor Next Log: Testing the Optikon

---

This site serves as a chronicle of sessions in an online roleplaying campaign moderated by Conrad "Lynx" Wong and May "Rowan" Wasserman. The contents of this site are (c) 2001, 2002 by Conrad Wong and May Wasserman except where stated otherwise. Despite the "children's fantasy" theme of this campaign, this site is not intended for young readership, due to mild language and violence.