Awakening Sir Theodore (7 Nov 2002) Alice awakens Sir Theodore and his knights in the Green Sward.

Sir Theodore's Glen
Like the woodcut image in Nymuae's book, this is a fairy-tale place, of green grass, flowers, and rose bushes. The flowerbeds form two intersecting circles. Figures lay out, clad in full armor, but curiously peaceful for all that, as if they were sleeping. On a central stone slab, beneath the outstretched wings of an alabaster pegasus, a bear-knight slumbers, his arms folded together over a leather-bound book on his chest. The tweeting of birds, and the occasional gentle snore, disturbs the silence.

The bear knight slumbers peacefully as Alice stands beside his resting place. The stone slab is low to the ground, only waist-height even to the little blond girl, and she has no difficulty in grasping the Bible. As she eases it out from under the knight's loosely clasped hands, she finds that his grip upon it is not fast. One arm falls to his side when she retrieves the volume, which is large enough that she needs both hands to work with it comfortably. The cover on it is of snowy white leather, and the embossed in elegant blue script is the title: The Holy Bible. A matching bookmark of blue silk trails from it, marking a place in roughly the middle third of the book.

The little girl shifts under the weight of the holy book. She has her own little bible back in Ainigton and her mother and father have bigger ones but this one is the biggest Bible she has ever seen. "You have a very nice Bible Sir Theodore Bear," she says she traces her finger along the edge of the bookmark. Using the silk as a guide she gets a handle upon the page it marks and turns to it. The large volume is allowed to lay across her arms as it opens.

Despite the size of the volume, the pages turn easily. They are fashioned of fine vellum, and the book includes many woodcut illustrations, plates, and medieval-style ornate letters at the beginning of each chapter. The bookmark leads Alice to the 37th chapter in Ezekiel. A little ways down the left-hand page, the tenth verse, in contrast to the black letters of the rest of the text, is picked out in a blue script that shimmers as Alice's eyes fall on it.

It kind of reminds Alice of Sunday school. Except for the awakening of a army of knights part. And there isn't a priest to explain which line they'd be talking today. Instead there are shimmering blue letters which Alice reads thinking it necessary to do so. She tries to speak loudly -- after all Sir Theodore and his knights have been sleeping a long time! If they’re at all like waking Gabriel up for school it might require a bit of tugging too.

"So I pro- ... prophesied as He commanded me, and breath came into them, and they lived, and stood upon their feet, an exceeding great army," recites Alice in a somber but a bit loud voice. She stands on her tip-toes too, and straightens her tummy, so she can "project" like her music teacher taught her to.

As Alice reads from the Word, the knight on the slab beside her stirs. A breeze picks up, blowing steadily across the glen, tousling her blond hair and the brown fur of the bear-knight's bare head. Tiny blue stars, like glitter scattered by a tossed hand, shimmer through the air, falling onto Alice, draping across the wings of Ariel, and falling upon the slumbering army. Suddenly, Theodore inhales a single deep breath, and he sits up with a whuffle, his eyes blinking, his armor clinking.

Alice looks up from the Holy Bible she's carrying and her eyes widen in surprise. "Hi!" she greets the knight with excited welcome. She blinks, steps back, gives a whisper of "oh excuse me Sir" and then dips in a curtsey to the recently awoken bear. "Please Sir Theodore. Lord Eoin has come again to trouble Mirari and my friends are in danger right now! We have need of you," she pleads.

"For nigh on fifty generations have I slumbered," Sir Theodore pronounces, his voice deep and rumbling, sounding not-quite-awake yet, "awaiting the day when my blade would be needed again by Mirari, in her direst need." His brown eyes fall on Alice, and they are gentle as he focuses upon her. "When I slept, I did not know what form that need would take. But the name you pronounce does not surprise me, child of April." He stands, the plates of his armor rattling against each other, and he towers over the little girl, giving the impression of being twice her height. Then he drops to one knee, unsheathing his sword to hold before him, hilt towards the girl, point against the ground. "I ask of my lady: please tell me your name, that I may know whom I serve now, in this new Day, against the oldest of Mirari's foes."

All around them in the clearing, the same process unfolds, the other knights yawning, stretching, sitting, and blinking. The sounds of their awakening fill the clearing, as they make shift to stand, and ready their weapons. After a few moments, to recover themselves, they, like Theodore, kneel to the young girl, offering their swords in token of their service.

The little girl straightens to watch as Sir Theodore with wide-eyed wonder as the bear knight moves and speaks. When he kneels Alice blushes, and she only reddens as the rest of the great army does likewise. It's all very ceremonious and important and she hesitates in thinking what name to offer. "My name is Angel, good sir knight, but I ask that you call me "Jill" for a while yet," she decides. The girl offers a smile and steps forward to return the man his Bible. "Please stand. We must make haste for a little part of Lord Eoin's monster-army stands but across the Siege. We are few and they are many."

"Then we will need to be ready for them," Sir Theodore says. He rises, and turns to face his men. "Form ranks!" he commands, and the scattered array of knights gather together with alacrity, mounting the steeds who had likewise been sleeping until awakened. They fall into position, forming row upon row of orderly lines before Alice and their leader. Sir Theodore checks them over, nodding his approval. All of them seem to have their weapons and other equipment in good order. The bear knight glances to Alice. "My Lady 'Jill', you will need a secure place among us. With your permission, I will mount you with one of my men, and post a contingent to ensure your well-being, if battle awaits us as soon as we leave this glade."

"Okay," agrees Alice with a nod. "The Green sward isn't green anymore and trolls and other things roam it now. But I must beg you, sir knight, to look for Simon, Lady Hannah, Caradoc, Sir Tristan, Lord Mel, and the other guards. Simon is about my height and he might be dressed like an enemy but Lord Eoin confused him and he thinks we're wrong. Oh, and everyone is a fey, but Lady Hannah and my other friends might be using glamours." She gives the bear knight another big smile, adding, "I'm glad you'll help us Sir Theodore. I'm ready."

Sir Theodore nods solemnly to Alice's list, as if understanding perfectly. He lifts the little girl, gently in his big hands, and sets her on his shoulder to carry her among the ranks of his mounted men. As he moves, he inquires as to the undisguised nature of their allies, and listens with care to her debriefing.

As Alice finishes describing her friends in the best detail she can manage and still be quick about it she ends in saying, "... and Caradoc is in trouble at the Siege, and so is Lady Hannah, so we might see them first. And ..," she twists at the waist and studies Sir Theodore briefly before giving him a big head-hug, "... good luck Sir Theodore!"

The bear gives her a smile in answer, patting her by way of reciprocating her hug. "Thank you, my lady. Keep our lady safe, Sir Lionel," he says to the helmeted knight they stand beside. Then he transfers her from his shoulder to the saddle. With a last look to the little girl, he asks, "Once I return my army to the Sward, this glade will be no more, and we shall be in the midst of this army of which you have warned us. Is my lady ready?"

"Ready!" answers the blonde, all eagerness and worry.

With another nod, the bear returns to the head of the company. He takes his helmet from its place beside the slab, and settles it onto his head. Then he draws his sword, and raises it high above his head. "We who have waited return," he shouts. "For Mirari!" His cry is echoed by the entire army in unison, a deafening shout that seems to shatter the glade itself. Pieces of it disintegrate all around them, and Alice feels again that familiar lurch of enchanted travel.

"For the Queen!" adds Alice to the cry as the glade fades all around them.

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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.