(9 Aug 2001) The heroes confront the jruuh once more.
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Island of Crows, Part II
(9 Aug 2001) The heroes confront the jruuh once more. |
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Crow Island
The island of Crow is a lopsided thing that runs from sandy beach into a thick growth of forest, until it rises into a series of cliffs that overlook the sea, where a watch tower keeps sentry for the mainland. From within, the veil that protects the island from intrusion is invisible, leaving only the gray-streaked blue sky, in which the sun stands at three o' clock.
Only a scant moment ago, our heroes had heard the growling of unseen creatures in the underbrush, and the screams of a damsel in distress -- which was then cut off suddenly. Now the undaunted Explorer Thomas of the Golden Hawks and the bold knight Lady Redmane, swords drawn, hurry to the rescue, followed by Princess Angel and her wand, and her jester, Simon, who is armed with nothing better than an umbrella. One can only hope that opening it will not be Simon's only trick, should things come to a fight.
The underbrush grows thicker, making the going more difficult. There! Was that a shadow passing between the trees, dog-shaped? Or is it only a trick of the eyes?
The growling shifts from seeming to be ahead of the explorer. It seems to come from the left and right as well, now. If there is one of the frightful creatures here, there may be more.
Sword held ready, Redmane keeps pace aside Tom, the ache in her back momentarily forgotten. "Do you think it could be a trap?" she whispers to the Golden Hawk as the two run through the underbrush.
The veteran explorer tears through the underbrush, stumbling over occasional vines and tree roots as he makes his way toward the clearing. His eyes train ahead, trying to judge his distance from the clearing. He answers Redmane without removing his gaze from the obstacles ahead, "Possibly. I'm not sure the jruuh are that clever, though. Do you think they could have allies?"
As Princess Angel attempts to keep pace with the Explorer of the court, she finds she is unable to traverse the brush too well at all. The length of her royal dress gets caught by dried out old bush, snagging it fast and causing need for the princess to stop and turn to unleash herself from its grasp. "My jester, I ... I am in need of your aid!" she calls out.
Simon too flops, though in a much more creative way: he trips over a tree root, tumbles head over heels in the air, and lands flat on his back, gasping for breath. WHUMPH! "Huff... Princess? Where'd you go?"
As the explorer peers ahead through the trees, he spots something long and blue lying on the ground. After an instant of incomprehension, his brain puts together the fragments of an image into a whole: a lady in a blue dress, on her stomach against the green grass of the clearing.
The princess tugs a little at her dress, frowning, and when the tangle does not relinquish its hold, she reaches down to try and remove the snag herself. "Here, my jester! Though I know not where 'here' is," she answers, voice wavering with apprehension.
While the young healer-princess wrestles with her tangled garment, she hears a growl, louder than the voice of Simon, over her left shoulder.
"Not allies, but masters perhaps," the Knight whispers to Tom, before slowing and glancing back towards the voice of the princess.
The jester rolls to a kneeling position, bells on his costume jingling, as he looks around worriedly at the growling. As he scrambles for the umbrella, then hurries to the princess's side, he says, "Angel! Er, your highness! I fear we must catch up to the others quickly, lest we become surrounded, and me with only your parasol to defend you!"
Thomas simply nods at Agatha's comment. "Do you see the lady ahead?" he then asks Agatha. "A lady in a blue dress, that is. It looks like she might be unconscious." He doesn't notice Agatha slowing down, his eyes fixed on the flash of blue in the clearing.
The nearby growl causes the princess to rise from her efforts and clutch her hands to her chest in fright, eyes widening as she searches for the source of the noise. "Quickly, free my garment and let us flee ... A parasol is not steel, I fear ..."
The jester bends over to work on freeing the princess's dress with a minimum of damage to the delicate fabric. "Far from it, milady. At best, I might hope to afrighten a monster unused to fine lace."
As Redmane slows down to look for the others who've fallen behind, the Lord Explorer bursts into the clearing. In a moment, he has taken in the scene -- the lady in blue stirs slightly on the ground, her unbound black hair loose around her shoulders and obscuring her face, as one hand pushes her off the ground. A white ribbon flutters beside her, and there's a tear on the shoulder of her dress. The clearing seems otherwise empty, save the rustle of grass in the wind, and the shifting of a few dried leaves.
Something shakes the tree from above the heads of the jester and princess, making the branches shake violently. A scattering of twigs and loose leaves showers down upon them, and the growl comes from above as well as behind, now.
Once free, the princess steps back and upon hearing the growl looks up, then over towards the sound coming from elsewhere. Her left hand finds Simon's and she helps him rise, while her right hand points with authority. "By order of ... of my father the King, relent, or ... or face the King's justice!"
The jester picks the umbrella up again and brandishes it, preparing to open it as a makeshift shield, should it become necessary. He glances around nervously, guarding the princess's back.
Thomas skids to a halt in the clearing, his green eyes peering from beneath his black hair as he looks about wildly. He grips his saber tightly, ready for battle, only to find none waiting for him. His attention quickly returns to the fallen lady and he rushes to her side. He stabs the tip of his saber into the dirt and kneels beside her. "Um ... Lady, are you well? I won't harm you. Let me help you up." he says gently. He reaches down to touch her shoulder, offering her a hand up.
When the princess looks up, she sees a dark shape, shaggy and the size of a small Shepard, jump out from the branches and disappear behind the shadow of a more distant tree. Something else evades her gaze when she looks behind her, scuttling out of sight. But another growl takes shape where she's not looking, as if the enemy is all around them.
Redmane stops and turns around, listening to the voice of the princess before heading towards it. "They're in trouble, Tom!" she calls back towards the explorer.
The princess fumbles to draw the spell book from its velvet home, quickly unfastening the book case and reaching to draw its contents forth. "Knight Redmane! To me!" The book is set in the crook of her arm, and she desperately begins flipping pages for something useful.
Simon looks up and around at the glimpses of motion. "We're surrounded!" he cries in panic. "Do something, Your Highness! Cast a spell and turn them into frogs!"
The lady turns her face towards Thomas, revealing startling clear skin and blue eyes, framed by strands of falling hair. A red smear stains her forehead as she blinks at him. "I..." Her voice falters as she takes his hand.
The Knight quickens her pace through the undergrowth as she hears her Princess call for her. "On my way, Princess!" Redmane calls.
Explorer Thomas gently helps the lady to her feet. His ears catch Redmane's cry out back in the forest and he turns his head, looking back in the direction it came from. "On my way!" he shouts out. His gaze returns to the dazed woman. "Forgive me, M'lady, but we must move quickly. I am Thomas, late of the Golden Hawks. We're here to rescue you." He picks her up, setting her back onto her own feet, then retrieves his saber and slips it back into the scabbard on his belt.
The dizzy woman wobbles on her feet, touching her fingers lightly to her forehead. They come away bloody, and she shakes her head. "...I can manage," she tells him, sliding the fingers of her other hand through his to steady herself, letting him lead her back to the others.
With a flick, Princess Angel turns nearly half the book in a effort to find one useful spell, and by the look in her eyes she seems to have found something useful. The wand in her hand is raised and she begins making arcane gestures while reading from the book. "In the old words h'garth, ertude, v'alla and sa'goa, I lay ward against the four, and erect a barrier. As the light of Sol does banish the night come morn, shall He now encircle us in the light's protective shield, proof against the Darkness and Its servants ... "
Thomas nods and says, "Then let us make haste." He turns and heads back toward the forest as quickly as he, and the lady, are capable of moving. His eyes glance about as they head back towards the others, wary of being ambushed.
A shadowy shape stirs at the corner of Thomas's vision, circling behind him and the rescued woman.
Spotting the princess and her jester finally, Redmane slows in her approach so as not to disturb the spell being woven -- but also to make it easier to spot whatever may be menacing them. She focuses on a cringing creature, like a large, shaggy badger with a dog's muzzle, teeth bared in a snarl -- and then, it vanishes, before her eyes.
As Angel concentrates on her spell, the tree next to her shudders, and a branch lashes against her face. The growl doubles in force, and they can hear the pads of beasts circling around the jester and princess, always keeping out of sight.
"We're definitely not alone, M'lady," Thomas says to the rescued woman as he notes the moving shadows as they head into the underbrush. "Do you have any skill with weapons? A quarterstaff, perhaps? I could fashion a rough one fairly quickly from a sapling, I'm sure."
"I do not think there is time, m'lord," she answers, her voice soft and oddly accented. Even though she's clearly still unsteady from her fall, she hurries her pace, struggling to match his.
"Then stay close and I will defend you as best I can. The others should not be too far back. I hope they are well," replies Thomas, moving quickly, but keeping in mind his charge and trying not to push her too hard.
Simon continues watching behind the princess's back, his umbrella wavering.
The Knight blinks in surprise at the sight -- and immediate disappearance -- of the jruuh. Remembering the speculation that they couldn't be seen when looked at directly, she begins to pan her head back and forth, checking for motion in her peripheral vision.
From the corners of her eyes, Redmane can see the flicker of their movements -- the rustle of the underbrush, the shifting of leaves. Oddly, none of what she catches seems near where the creature she saw so clearly -- if only briefly -- a moment earlier.
The princess's words trail from incantation to chant, and she begins repeating several phrases in a cadence. "As light banishes shadow so does this ward banish Its dark servants ..." The shifting branch catches her on the face, stinging her cheek, but she grits her teeth against the pain and continues. "As night becomes dawn so does it wash away the night's minions ... " Her eyes stay on her page, and her wand keeps in motion. She reads, focused on her spell. "By Sol, by the East, I conjure Renewal and banish the Year's End!"
On a hunch, Redmane raises her sword up and peers at the polished metal surface of the blade, turning it to see if she can see the creatures by their reflections.
A glow that might be overactive imagination has built around Alice as she speaks the words of her spell, but at the final phrase, it transforms to a starburst of glory. Stark white light illuminates the scene, reflecting off the blade Redmane gazes at and momentarily blinding her. The shadowy figures of the jruuh are exposed from their shadows, the protection of the shielding branches stripped from them. Naked before the light, a half-dozen of them cry out, transfixed in their spots. Even as the eyes of the gathered people spy them, they melt away, whimpering.
Simon cries out with surprise. "Princess! You've done it!" he yelps, brandishing the umbrella just in case one or another got missed.
Blinking to clear the spots before her eyes, Redmane calls out, "Princess, are you all right?"
The wand falls from its gestures, and the princess of Mirari closes the book with a *thump* as she wavers where she stands. Her eyes close and she reaches to steady herself off Simon, looking winded. "The ... Lady Sorceress's work is ... quite tiring," she whispers to the jester. "Help me stand, sir."
The glow fades as Angel rests against her companion, dying to a halo encircling her, crowning her golden hair. The nimbus extends to the jester where she touches him.
Simon helps prop the princess up. "Lady Redmane!" he calls, waving his hand in the direction where he vaguely imagines the knight might be, blinking his eyes rapidly as if dazzled. "We're over here!"
As Thomas and the dark-haired lady approach the scene, the woman draws back, placing one hand over her mouth to cover her "O" of surprise. She stops, her limp fingers pulling out of the explorer's grasp as she stares at the princess.
Angel blinks wearily, and as she moves to rest her head against his shoulder, she watches the glow on her hand with tired wonder. "It's real ... "
Knight Redmane joins them, after bulling her way through the underbrush towards Simon. She has re-sheathed her sword along the way.
Redmane looks with concern at the princess, and says, "That was ... impressive, my lady! Are the fell creatures banished for well and good, or only driven off for a time?"
The explorer looks to the lady beside him when she pulls her hand away. He then nods softly, remembering that not everyone has traveled and seen the sights he has. "You are safe, M'lady. That is Princess Angel. It is she who seeks you out and asked for my aid. It appears we missed all the 'fun'," he says softly. He then smiles and asks, "And may I ask your name so I may introduce you to her properly?"
After the spell, with the growls silenced, the forest seems still and quiet once more. The last of the nimbus of light dies from around the princess, leaving her illuminated only by the ordinary sunlight that filters through the trees. The gentlewoman beside Thomas shakes her head. "The Year's..." She stops, shivering in the sunlight. "I am Lady Raven, m'lord, of Avarre," she says, regaining composure as she speaks. "And you are....?"
The explorer bows slightly, replying, "I am Thomas, late of the explorers' guild, the Golden Hawks. Come, let me introduce you to the others." He stands aside and motions her forward. "Princess, Knight Redmane, and Jester Simon, let me introduce all of you to Lady Raven of Avarre," he calls out.
The princess looks up and smiles a little, and inclines her head to the knight's question. "I am worn, but I will recover, I should think. As for the jruuh," she casts her gaze across the forest, " ... I do not think they endured quite so well. I did not ... think spell casting would be so ... " Her words trail off and she turns to regard the Lord Explorer and the woman beside him.
Redmane turns and bows to the lady in blue, then takes her place at the side of the princess, opposite Simon.
Simon blinks, looking up. "Well met, milady! Aren't you supposed to be languishing in a dark tower, locked up by your cruel father and guarded by a ferocious ogre that thirsts for blood?" He cracks a smile, and makes as if to bow, but with the princess leaning on him, manages only a slight lean, and a flourish of his hand before his chest.
The Lady of Avarre smiles, shy, to the others around her. She stands as straight-backed and slender as a young tree, her dark hair straight and loose around her shoulders, falling below her waist. She wears a long dress of blue, the fabric on one shoulder torn, its ankle-length skirt stirred like her hair by the light breeze. There is something about her which seems at home in the wilderness, as if she belonged with the feral creatures, despite her ladylike attire. "Languishing, m'lord?" she queries of Simon. "I am not a ... prisoner, here." She looks troubled even as she speaks. "This is my home, and I welcome you to it -- to the Island of Avarre."
"Greetings to you, Lady Raven of Avarre. I am Princess Angel, daughter of the King, heir to the throne of Mirari. On behalf of my father, I have come with the court to bring you from exile," hails the princess. She removes herself from Simon's support and curtsies as she can, book in arm and wand still in hand.
"No lord I," Simon hastens to correct. "Merely a humble jester in service to the court of Mirari -- which is personified at the moment by the august Princess Angel." He bows more flourishingly in the princess's direction, now that he is free to do so.
"Forgive my bluntness, Lady Raven, but you appear injured. Your wound should be looked at," Thomas says firmly, "and please tell us about yourself, the fair isle of Avarre, and what happened to you in the clearing." He looks back toward his traveling companions, adding, "And I'm sure they also have questions of you, milady."
Noticing the torn dress, the knight asks, "Were you attacked by the jruuh, Lady Raven?"
Lady Raven curtsies to the royal daughter. "I am honored to have Your Highness visit my tiny domain," she says softly. She touches her fingers to her bloodied forehead again. Reflexively, she nods to both Thomas and Redmane. "Yes." She sits, gracefully, on a fallen log, resting her weight on one arm.
The princess inclines her head to Thomas. "Our Lord Explorer has the right of it. We offer our apologies if we offend -- it is not often one takes kindly to residence upon a distant isle. We also offer our care, and if you would have it, we will see to your wounds," says the princess to the Lady of Avarre.
"I appreciate your concerns, Your Highness, and would be most grateful for your attentions, though I do not think the injury is serious," Lady Raven replies.
Simon looks around. "I dislike the forest," he suggests. "There are too many deep, creepy, dark places in them. Might we not find some place more salubrious?"
"I agree with the Fool," Redmane says, looking at the surrounding forest. "There may be other dangerous creatures that followed the jruuh."
"I have never before thought the forest gloomy, sir jester," Raven says. "But on this day ... I fear I see your point. May I offer the court the comforts of my tower?"
The explorer walks around behind Lady Raven so he won't obscure her vision, then gently starts looking through her hair for any other wounds. Finding none, he rummages in his small pouch and produces a piece of linen. He dabs at the wound on her forehead, trying to soak away some of the blood. "Please, tell me if I cause any pain, Lady Raven," he says. He then looks over at the jester. "Simon, could you bring me some water, please? I could clean the wound more easily with a wet cloth."
As Thomas touches her hair, the lady starts, blinking, and she grimaces at the touch of the cloth to the cut on her forehead, but makes no protest. The princess walks forth from the jester's side, watching the explorer with a curious eye as she puts her old and worn tome to rest safely back within its velvet holder. "My jester, ready my apothecary bag. I will see to the treatment of the Lady's wound as we proceed. Perhaps we should seek shelter within the tower."
The jester looks up in surprise, then whispers to the explorer, "Milord, we should leave these ministrations to the princess, who is, after all, a trained healer. It is unseemly to, ah..." Simon waves his hands vaguely, then nods to the princess, going to pick up her bag. "Right away, Your Highness!"
Redmane's back itches in sympathy as she watches the first-aid being administered. "Is your tower far, Lady Raven?" she asks.
The explorer nods and steps away. "Of course," he responds and tucks the cloth back into his pouch. He then glances upward, looking at the light through the leaves and says, "Shouldn't we return to the boat? I don't think I want to traverse this forest at night. Nor do I feel comfortable leaving the men at the ship at night. What if the jruuh return?"
Placing one hand on a nearby tree, Lady Raven pulls herself to her feet again. "I will show you the way," she says. "It is not far...." She hesitates at Thomas's words. "But ... my father sent me here because he feared the jruuh would find me, were it not for Avarre's aura of shielding."
"I believe the princess will need to explain about that," Thomas says.
A handful of crows circle overhead, cawing to each other, before the settle among the branches of one tree.
The Knight eyes the crows with suspicion, but nonetheless feels relieved by their presence. "If the crows have returned, then they must not sense anymore danger."
Lady Raven follows Redmane's gaze, and smiles. "They have been my closest friends for many years, lady knight," she answers.
The princess clears her throat gently as she steps beside the lady and between her and Simon, a smile forming on her face which she only partially manages to resist. "I do think the Lord Explorer is awash with gallantry today," she tells the other woman while glancing at the man in question. The princess tilts her head and inspects the wound, bites her lip, and holds her hand out to receive her bag without looking from the injury. "Our guest may need to procure her belongings before we depart. I will explain the rest when we are safe within the tower."
At Her Highness's decision, the group removes to Lady Raven's tower.
From the island side, the tower appears short, merely three stories tall, the topmost being roofed with a stone-shingled cone and open on four sides, with a mirror and lantern apparatus; this is the signaling mechanism by which a lookout on Avarre could send a message to the mainland. Two floors separate this level from the ground, and then there is a tall door of heavy oak, upon which is hung a gargoyle knocker. The other side descends several stories below the apparent ground level to a ledge, which observes a sheer drop to the white-frothed sea below.
Lady Raven pulls open the door by its old gargoyle knocker, with a smile at the carved face, and leads the way to the spare room inside, furnished with a single low table, a couple of comfortable chairs, a wooden stool, and a pair of foot stools. "I apologize for the accommodations, Your Highness. I am unused to visitors."
"Quite understandable, though we would marvel at the view it affords," the princess says. During the walk she had seen to the lady's wound, and since returned her bag to the jester's safe keeping. "We thank you for welcoming us into your home."
The explorer walks in alongside the others. He glances about and smiles. "The place is quite charming. Was it built by your father?" He walks the perimeter of the room slowly, pacing off some nervousness about still being on the island. After all, the jruuh were able to find us once. They might be better prepared next time.
"It beats sleeping in a giant's tea kettle, because you'd never know when you'd be in hot water," Simon quips.
Lady Raven smiles at both of them. The injury on her forehead was slight -- a shallow cut, nothing more, and the bandages that cover it now exaggerate its extent. "As I said, I am gratified by your presence here, Your Highness. I know ... that it has cost you a great deal of trouble." She stares into the distance. "More than you realize, perhaps."
Casually, the Knight checks the door, discerning after a few quick glances that it can be bolted from the inside.
"May I ask why you have come?" Lady Raven inquires.
"Would that times were better and this were but a pleasant visit. I fear urgency has directed our course to your doorstep, and we are in need of your fabled powers of divination." The princess inclines her head, then glances towards the door. "I would think that it is quite the reverse. We have brought the jruuh to you, but the shadow-walkers are not your enemies alone."
A look of alarm flits across the oracle's pale, delicate features. "Your Highness?"
The explorer pauses his pacing to listen to Angel explain their presence. He leans against the stone wall, his green eyes peering through overhanging locks of his thick hair.
Redmane leans against the doorjamb, so that she can keep watch on the approach to the room as well as the room itself.
The princess returns her gaze to the lady, noting her expression with worry. "Our prophet and sorceress, Lady Nymuae, has spoken of a time when the Year's End will threaten us all. The jruuh are part of this; of that I am certain. Their presence has been felt all the more in recent months and this in turn has brought us to you. We ask you to come with us, to join us in our struggle against the Year's End." Her words conclude with a hopeful, if uneasy smile.
Simon busies himself with putting away the princess's medical supplies, then fiddles with the umbrella as he sits tailor-fashion on the floor.
"The Lady ... Nymuae?" Lady Raven looks further shaken. "She spoke of the Year's End?" She hugs her arms, wrapping her hands around her elbows. "I thought that only a myth...."
"Do you know the Lady Nymuae?" inquires Thomas, his gaze returning to the mysterious Lady Raven.
"Know her?" She smiles, giving a quiet half-laugh. "No. But I have heard of her power. If she...." She shakes her head, glancing to Angel.
With a nod, the princess continues, "My father once told me there is truth in legend, and we have found that this myth carries a great deal of truth. The omens have appeared and the jruuh have hounded us all the more as time passes. A shadow ... a whisper ... a unseen thief ... and now an attack. There is not one amongst us who can read the signs as you can; we are in need of you."
"But remember, Princess, people also sometimes create truth where there was none. We must be wary of what we find and what we believe. Perhaps someone wants us to believe in this myth to weaken us," Thomas says softly.
"This cannot be. The Year's End is but a story, a tale to frighten children. There is always renewal." Lady Raven speaks decisively, glancing with gratitude to the explorer. "Yet.... Your highness, you must understand. My sight has never been clear on those things which concern my own life. I trusted to my father's judgment, that there was a force out there that I must be protected from. I ... have always been pleased by this little island, and my simple life. If I am an exile, I am a willing one."
"But what do you accomplish, all alone here?" Redmane quietly asks. "Whom does your gift of second sight benefit?"
The oracle is silent for a moment. "What talent I have, Your Highness, I place at the disposal of your court. Tell me: what is your quest? What question have you brought for me?"
"The Lady Sorceress has foreseen the battle with the Year's End, and I am inclined to trust her council." The princess turns to regard her court in turn as she speaks of them. "The Lord Explorer would bid us caution; he is not inclined to believe signs and fables. Knight Redmane would offer that even should there be no concern, that still here your power is wasted. I ...," the princess says, then pauses as she returns her eyes to the lady before her, " ... I can only speak of what I have seen, and I will admit to believing in myths. Surely you had seen our encounter earlier. Our quest is to defend the realms from the Year's End. My question ... As to that, I will need the opinion of my counselors. My court?"
Simon unwinds from his tailor-sitting position to sidle to Thomas's chosen wall. He whispers, "Milord Explorer, methinks it foolish to doubt when we have seen so many signs. Something walked the woods, and it was not us. Why not ask the Oracle what she sees for the future?"
The oracle bows her head, hiding her face behind the veil of her hair. "One person," she says, "one question. Choose carefully. I will offer you this much: the narrowest questions yield the clearest answers."
Simon gulps. "Why one question-- strike that! That's not my question." The jester pounds a hand against his forehead, trying to think of one clever enough to ask.
Thomas turns his head slightly and whispers to Simon, "I simply mean we should keep perspective, friend. Could the jruuh simply be illusions from a powerful enchanter? Perhaps someone wants to convince us of some impending doom to lure us into making a major mistake or completing some quest -- like opening the way to the oracle, for example."
The oracle chuckles. "It is the nature of the Gift, my friend. You need not fear. I may answer ordinary questions as easily as any normal woman."
The princess turns to regard her court. "And so we are offered a choice. I leave your choices to you, and you alone, as my council," she tells them all.
"I wouldn't mind knowing our foe's greatest weakness," Redmane offers to the others.
Thomas raises his hand, saying softly, "I choose to discover the future on my own. I have traveled the world both alone and with others and have discovered how to live along the way. To learn of what will come ... lessens the experience of living it. I am sorry, but I am not the one who should ask."
"I cannot fault you for your feeling, Lord Thomas," Raven says, not looking at him directly. "I think that foreknowledge was always a curse to my father. But ... should you alter your opinion, some day, the option will still be there, as long as I am."
"That's one question total, or one question apiece?" the jester asks. "And if that would count as the question, it's not the question, okay? I hope you have this straight, because I certainly don't!" He shrugs self-deprecatingly.
Thomas elbows Simon softly; the jester oofs and then grins up at Tom. "What, have you got it straight then?"
The explorer grins down at the jester and responds in a whisper, "I always keep things straight. In my line of work, if you don't, you end up in someone's pot as stew."
"One person, one question," the oracle repeats, smiling again. "I count four people here, besides myself, and you may each of you ask your own question. You may, if you choose, ask something on behalf of another. But it is wise that Her Highness has refrained from dictating what you ask, for the answers to those coerced into inquiry ... are never satisfying," she concludes, darkly.
Meanwhile, the princess reaches for the velvet pouch that contains the dusty old tome that she brought with her: the Lady Sorceress's spell book. She holds it in the crook of her arm, brushing the cover as she considers it thoughtfully. "Lady Nymuae has left us to seek answers of her own in a distant land. I could truly use her council now. But before I pose my question, I ask a mundane one, that is, the legend of the Year's End as you know it," she says.
Lady Raven hesitates for a long while, closing her eyes. When she re-opens them, her gaze drifts to Simon, and she speaks. "The Year's End is the dark power, the great evil, the end of all things. At the conclusion of every year, the Lord of Year's End attempts to ascend the throne of Mirari, and it is the duty of all the People to prevent him," she recites, like a child speaking from a storybook. "For should the Year's End ever gain the throne, then there will be no Renewal, no New Year, no fresh cycle. Only the void, the end of all things."
"Your Highness," Simon says meekly to the princess, with a glance back to the Lady Raven. "I'll freely ask any question you may wish, for as I'm a fool, I'd be only too liable to ask foolish questions. But isn't there one really burning question that you must surely have?"
The Knight frowns at the retelling, and comments, "The throne is vacant, as the King is missing. Perhaps we should ask where to find the King?"
"With my father missing ... I hold the throne," whispers Princess Angel very quietly. She hugs the book to her chest and turns back around, saying in a more normal tone, "I am forming my question. It would not be proper to speak it before I am ready. Lady Raven, as a mundane question, who are the 'People' you speak of?"
"The People? The folk of Mirari, Your Highness. All those ruled by the King. But ... in the King's absence, none may ascend. As long as he lives -- absent or no -- he reigns, and Mirari must be safe from the Year's End, at least," Lady Raven says, thoughtfully.
Thomas nods to Redmane, "I was about to suggest that. Let that be my question, then. Where can we find the King?"
The oracle's hand trembles, and she clasps it to the arm of her chair to still it, as she glances to the explorer. "You changed your opinion soon, m'lord. You are certain?" she says, her voice slightly unsteady. "That is your question of me?"
Angel looks between Thomas and Redmane, and bids them forward with a gesture as she sees they have a mutual question. "I would wonder if the People include Lords beyond my father's rule ... unicorns, mayhap. But no, that is not my question ... "
Redmane moves to the side of the princess as bidden.
The explorer shrugs slightly, and approaches the princess. He glances toward Raven and smiles at her, saying, "It is not a question that is specifically for me. It is for the princess. Lady Redmane also seems to think it would be something good to answer. However, the princess may wish to hold me from asking it for now, so I withdraw it."
The princess steps back, leaving Thomas and Redmane to speak their questions as she continues to think on the matter.
"You could ask about the location of fabulous treasures or the secrets of the past," Simon suggests helpfully to the Explorer.
Thomas actually laughs and shakes his head, smiling apologetically to the Lady Raven. "Okay, I'll start this, since no one can decide. Please answer the question I posed. Where is the king? I ask this for the princess and for Redmane. Should further clarification be needed, I leave those questions to them."
"The court thanks you for your generosity, Lord Explorer," says the princess. "T'was not my mind you speak on my behalf."
The oracle trembles again. She clamps her hands to the arms of her chair, and her legs quiver as if she meant to rise, but she does not. She throws her head back, and a whimper slides out of her throat, as if she were racked by sudden pain. Abruptly, her head drops level again, and she stares at the explorer with eyes gone flat and purplish-black, faintly glowing. She speaks, and her voice reverberates.
Simon rolls his eyes. "A riddle! I suppose that if we ask what that meant, it will be answered by another riddle." He grins wryly.
Thomas steps back quickly from Raven, shocked by her sudden change in demeanor. He inhales and regains his composure and walks back over to the spot he stood previously and leans against the wall again. "So the King isn't bound," he murmurs softly, "but searching for hope. Curious. This is a journey I've not prepared for. I've searched out places, but never ideals or feelings." He shakes his head ruefully and looks toward Raven, a mixture of curiosity and pity for her. What have we really found?
"Words we will need consider well," says the princess. "Perhaps we should leave the rest of our questions for the 'morrow, when we are safe aboard our vessel."
The Knight stares at Lady Raven for several moments, then looks at the others to gauge their reactions. "Hope is found in the heart, surely," she says.
"Perhaps he's looking for a hope chest," Simon quips. More soberly, the jester adds, "If we asked more questions, we might know more about what it is our wayward King seeks. But I would feel more comfortable shipboard and away from this island to more familiar surroundings, indeed, miladies, milord."
The oracle sags forward in her chair, blinking her eyes. "Wh-- what did I say?" she asks, bewildered, her hands dangling forward over her legs. She looks limp, drained.
A smile forms on the princess's face. "In the heart ... A grand sentiment, and suitable besides," Angel comments. She returns her spell book to its case and steps forward to assist the oracle. "An answer and a riddle, Lady Raven. I will repeat ... but first we should consider departing, before it draws too late to navigate the forests."
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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.