Lord Melchizedek's Message (6 Nov 2001) Alice, Agatha and Nymuae witness an apparition.

Harcourt Manor
This grand old Victorian house off of Webber Way used to be the favorite "haunted house" of the children, but a few months ago, an older gentleman moved in -- Richard, who has begun to renovate the place, to their disappointment. Two gables look out from the roof of the two story manor, and vines crawl up the walls, from which plaster has fallen in places to expose brickwork.

While Alice has been chatting with Nymuae upstairs, Agatha has been down behind the manor, taking care of Destre's stable while talking with both the animals, bringing them up to speed on what she knows. Both the animals have sensed that events have been moving on rather quickly, and Kuon is quick to suggest that if the kids are going to Mirari, he at least had better be going with them, though Destre whickers his intentions of accompaniment as well.

Meanwhile, Destre is putting on a remarkable job of pantomime, and when Agatha says the word Souhait, she gets a strong impression that the black stallion is saying to distrust the fey knightsteed....

It is at this point that Nymuae and Alice exit the house, perhaps in search of Agatha, and can be seen through the filtering wickerwork of the white-painted gazebo and the greenery of the still somewhat overgrown garden, and it seems surprising that so much time has elapsed while she's been conversing with the animals. Perhaps because it takes longer for them to convey information with their body language.

Destre concentrates as if struggling with some way to communicate why Souhait should be distrusted ... then just snorts.

"Thomas and Simon can't ride a horse, Destre," Agatha explains. "They could ride Souhait, though. At the very least, trustworthy or not, we'll probably need to bring the knightsteed. The Siege of the Forest is controlled by House April, and unless you know how to summon up the Siege of Wind, that's the only way to get you back to Mirari."

The black stallion flicks an ear, quiet acknowledgment, then flirts his head as if watching an imaginary beetle -- and there is none there -- crossing the ground. Maybe, he seems to be saying, it's better to keep Souhait under watch.

Alice happily chats on about something or another as she follows Nymuae around, though her voice is too indistinct for the particulars to be made out by Agatha.

Agatha leans against the gate of Destre's stall, and thinks. "Once we get him over there, we might be able to just send him back to Tristan. There must be another knightsteed we could borrow. Or a wagon," she says, turning to watch the other girls a moment before calling to them. "Hey, we're over here!"

The dark hair of the tall woman beside Alice glints with reddish highlights in the moonlight as the two come down the garden path toward the stable. "Is the horse ill, Agatha?" she calls.

"Huh?" Agatha says, although not loud enough for Nymuae to likely hear. "No, he's fine," she calls back, realizing that Nymuae probably doesn't know that Destre and Kuon are anything more than they appear. To the horse and greyhound, she quietly asks, "What do you think of Nymuae? Do you trust her?"

Alice holds Nymuae's hand, carrying her oversized purse -- and, tucked into the purse, she has a new addition to her stuffed animal collection: in addition to Lord Mel, Sir Teddy Bear now sits, medallion and all. "Hi, Agatha!" Alice calls out.

Destre looks up at Nymuae curiously and leans forward against the wooden side of the stall, intent on getting a closer look and scent of her.

Agatha smiles and waves back to the pair. "Did you find out anything in the room?" she calls to them, although not quite so loudly now that they're closer.

"The bear has a connection with Mirari -- though exactly what or how, I cannot say," Nymuae answers, coming to join her. "And the painting in that room -- it is curiously similar to the woods near Elysia, in spring."

"Um," the little girl begins to answer, and she lifts her free hand to put a finger to her lips as she thinks before answering, "I learned I might be Faerie Princess Angel but I'm not a ghost and I can be a faerie and a princess and an angel because Nymuae says so and House April doesn't like us and Sir Teddy Bear likes faeries and Rebecca isn't a faerie or water or clouds and maybe I can be glamorous like Elinor and ... and ... you can't be a sorceress and be a princess too because it's against the rules but you can use band-aids and be a princess because that's okay."

"If you're a princess, can't you make your own rules?" Agatha asks, looking at the teddy bear to see if it's about to move again. "Oh, can you summon the Siege of Wind by any chance, Nymuae? If we're going to take Souhait for Tom and Simon to ride, we need a Siege that's out in the open."

Alice walks up to the stall, then kneels down to greet Kuon with the usual hug. "I don't know, Agatha. I think I can be a princess because the rules say so, not because I can make the rules," she answers cheerily.

"Yes," the Lady Sorceress answers, seriously, "even a queen must abide by certain rules, and may not toss them aside to invent her own. It is within my power to summon the Siege of Winds, if need be, but doing so is difficult." Her green eyes lose focus.

Destre sniffs at Nymuae's hand, seeming almost courtly as the stallion lowers his head in a bow, then raises his head up again to look at the sorceress. He nickers something that seems to be a respectful greeting to someone older and wiser. Kuon too lowers his head in a bow.

Agatha nods to the Sorceress. "How difficult? I'd rather not use either October's or April's Sieges for this."

When Kuon lowers his head, Alice leans on him in a sort of tackle-hug. "This is my best friend, Lady Rebecca Nymuae of the Lake!" she announces, waving at Nymuae as she does so before resuming her hug.

Nymuae's eyes open and close once, then she focuses on the two animals. Gravely, she returns their greetings with a respectful nod of her head, making an odd gesture with her left hand, then says to Agatha, "I will need a few moments. I must feel the winds, and see which way they lie. Then I may answer you."

The greyhound whurfs in surprise, then slurps Alice's face.

Letting the Sorceress work, Agatha grins at Alice and Kuon, and wonders about how the animals reacted, suspecting that Nymuae recognized them, and vice-versa.

The sorceress bows to the others, and withdraws from the stable, pacing toward the center of the gardens.

Agatha pats Destre on the side of his neck, and fishes a sugar-cube out of her pocket for him. "You know each other?" she whispers to the horse, and points with her chin towards the retreating woman.

Destre gives Agatha a grave nod ... then licks the sugar cube up eagerly.

"So, what's your verdict?" Agatha asks the horse. "Is she okay?"

Having delivered enough doggy hugs for the moment, Alice settles back, resting on her heels, looking up to wave and call out, "Hi, Destre!" and then watching the lady sorceress walk off. "I want to go to Mirari, Agatha. I want to go see the Palace of All Seasons and see the grave because I want to know if I'm buried there. And maybe I should bring flowers -- I'd like flowers!" she remarks idly to Agatha, seemingly still in high spirits despite the grim topic.

Agatha blinks at the thought of bringing flowers to one's own grave. "Well ... I think we're all going to go this time, including Kuon and Destre. I don't know if you'll be able to find flowers there in winter, though."

At the center, the woman turns smoothly in place, three rotations to the left, then three to the right, holding her arms out, her sleeves flowing with the breeze. After the turns, Nymuae chants something too soft to be made out at the distance, speaking one line, then turning ninety degrees to face another compass point, and repeating the process for each direction. Then she returns to the other two, shaking her head.

Destre nosebumps Agatha, checking for more treats.

Kuon licks Alice's hand and then noses her to face the garden, where there seems to be a plenitude of flowers. He barks happily.

"I think it would be okay to bring human flowers?" asks Alice. The little girl continues to watch Nymuae up until she returns, and to her she asks, "Is the wind hiding, Rebecca?"

Distracted, Agatha fishes out more sugar cubes for the horse, keeping her eyes on Nymuae. "Oh, I guess bringing our own flowers would be okay," she comments to Alice.

"Though I am a potent sorceress, the working of Sieges is not my strongest power," Nymuae answers Alice. "Those with the natural talent to call the Siege of Winds -- like the Lord December -- have left it in such a state of flux that it may take days or even weeks in Ainigton before I can call the Siege of Wind -- and I know not how much time will have passed in Mirari by then. I dare not linger here so long."

Destre savors the sugar cubes happily.

Agatha hmms, and asks, "You could open it from the Mirari side, though?"

Nymuae shakes her head. "No."

Alice turns, and when she turns, she finds flowers. "Oooo! I'll pick some before we go to Mirari." She beams, ruffles up Kuon's head fur and ears, then turns back to Nymuae. "Do we need to go soon, Rebecca? I need to tell Mommy and Daddy I'll be gone and pack and things. You can come over if you want to. Mommy says you're always allowed to come over and play. And if Gabriel teases you, you can turn him in to a frog."

Leaning against the side of the stall once more, Agatha says, "Well, I guess it'll be up to Thomas to get Lord December to open it for us then. But I haven't met the Wolf-Lord and don't entirely trust him." Looking to the blonde, she asks, "What did you plan on telling them, Alice?"

"That Tommy and Elinor and you and me and Kuon and Destre are going to go on a camp out in the faerie world," answers Alice. She then glances back to Rebecca. "You can make the Siege of ... of ... Crows and Junk work, right Rebecca? We can use that?"

"Stone and Water," Agatha says, correcting Alice with a grin.

The tall woman is looking down at her hands, pale-skinned and clad in white raiment with green cuffs about her wrists, fabric flowing back from them. She lifts her head, and nods to Alice. "Yes, I may use that route freely.

"Are you alright, Nymuae?" Agatha asks, and looks at the Sorceress' hands as well. "I mean ... are you starting to ... uh ... change back to norm- err ... to how you were before you left?"

Destre looks askance at Agatha.

"You want to go ask now?" inquires the little girl as she looks between the two older girls. She frowns a little in concern when Agatha asks of Nymuae's hands, and leans over a little to look at Nymuae's hands, too. "Did you get dirt in your nails? I don't like that because you have to use the scrubber."

"I am fine," the sorceress answers. "And no, I do not believe I will ... change back. I think it would be best if I did not go to your house, Angel. I will need to return to Mirari soon. There is much I must do there."

Alice nods. "Okay. Um, can I go ask then and come back so I can go with you, Rebecca? I'll try and be real quick and if they say no, I'll come back and say so," the blonde says.

"We need to talk to Tom and Elinor first, Alice, before telling anyone we'll be gone," Agatha says. "We'll need to plan at least a little bit, so running off now is probably not a good idea. Your parents wouldn't let you go at the drop of a hat anyway, I'm sure."

"And it is late," Lady Nymuae says, gesturing to the darkened sky, twinkling with stars. "Thy parents may already be worried, Angel. Agatha is right. T'would be best if we arranged another time for me to meet you, and see you all through -- all those who wish to come."

Wrinkling her nose, Alice pouts. "But I want to go with Rebecca," she begins, looking between the other girls. She watches them a moment frowns a little more, and relents, "Oh, okay ... I'll ask when I can go when I go home."

"Just bring up the idea of going on a camping trip to your folks, okay, Alice?" Agatha asks. "See how they react. I know your Mom doesn't like you getting dirty, so we might have to work on them a bit. For now, we probably need to get Nymuae back to the cave, unless there's anything else she needs to do first?" she says, looking to the sorceress.

"It is time we all returned to our homes," Lady Nymuae says. She shifts her book under one arm. "I will be well enough without an escort, and your parents will be worried. Ah -- Agatha, as regards your Optikon -- would you like me to develop the images in Mirari?"

Agatha blinks at the suggestion. "You can do that? Sure! By the time they were ready here, we'd probably have already left. I'll get the film out in the kitchen.... Uh ... do you need anything else? Want to bring some bottles of soda with you or anything?"

Alice looks back and forth as the other two discuss their plans, for the moment seeming to not have a thing to say.

The greyhound noses at Alice's hands, as if checking for treats.

The woman smiles and starts to shake her head, then finds herself nodding instead. "Yes, a couple of bottles of Coke would be nice," she replies, sounding for a moment almost ordinary. "In my study I can turn the Optikon's film to images, but the truth it reveals in Mirari may be different from what it would reveal in Ainigton," she cautions. "The truths of Mirari are the secrets of the soul. In Ainigton, 'tis the mundane, the physical, one would see revealed."

Alice blinks when nudged, giggles suddenly, and turns to ruffle Kuon up again. "Sorry, Kuon, I'm all out of cookies! But if you want to, you can come home with me and I can get you cookies you can have," she explains.

"That should be fine," Agatha says, dusting off her pants and starting towards the kitchen. "It'll let me get an idea of why Destre doesn't trust Souhait at least! I'll be right back!" she promises, and jogs through the garden towards the house.

Kuon gives this some consideration, then barks cheerfully at Alice, tail wagging.

Destre snorts, looking sideways at the greyhound.

As Agatha departs, Nymuae rests against a post of the stable, holding her book to her chest with one hand, her head bowed and resting against the fingers of the other. She closes her eyes, looking weary.

Alice looks up a little, and while petting Kuon, asks, "Oh, Rebecca? Tommy was thinking Lord Mel was weird and maybe magic so I think Tommy would like it if you checked." She reaches over and offers up her prized stuffed animal. "And ... and ... " Her face screws up at Nymuae's expression. " ... are you sick, Rebecca? You look tired and not well."

Agatha returns within a few minutes, carrying a thick paper back that makes clinking noises due to the bottles inside. "I put the film roll in here too," she says, noticing how tired Nymuae looks as well. "Maybe Destre can give you a ride to the cave. You look pretty beat."

The black stallion leans forward to snuffle at Nymuae's hair lightly, looking concerned, an evident agreement with Agatha's suggestion.

Nymuae lifts her head from her hand, and extends her hand to accept the doll. "I am fine, merely weary," she repeats, her fingers closing about the stuffed unicorn's neck. She gasps at the contact, sagging against the post in alarm.

Setting down the bag, Agatha enters Destre's stall and starts to saddle him up, all the same. "I'll feel better making sure you get to the cave, though," she says.

Immediately Alice draws Lord Mel away and places him back in her purse before she reaches out to try and support Nymuae. "What's wrong? Daddy washed him a few days ago. He's not dirty."

Destre leans forward against the stall's gate as he tries to provide more support to Nymuae, making it difficult for Agatha to finish saddling him. He whuffles agitatedly, while Kuon looks back and forth between Alice and Nymuae and Agatha.

"Lord Melchizedek," the sorceress murmurs, her hand clenching into a fist around empty air with the doll withdrawn. "He is -- in a terrible darkness. I did not think -- give me the doll, Angel," she says with sudden resolve. "I must learn what I can."

Quickly as she can Alice returns the doll to Lady Nymuae, saying, "Here you go!"

Agatha listens and watches closely, pausing in her attempt to saddle Destre.

One hand tightly holding the book, Nymuae accepts the toy in her other, closing her eyes briefly. "Gone," she whispers. She opens her eyes again and strides across the lawn. "Angel, bring me some white rocks -- the ones from the garden out front will be fine. Agatha, I will need four candles."

Agatha nods and heads back to the kitchen for candles and matches, leaving Destre with just his saddle blanket on.

"Okay!" exclaims the little girl, and just like that she's dashing off to gather white rocks.

The sorceress lays her spellbook down on the grass, holding the doll in one hand, and locates a large, flat-topped rock. She heaves it from its place by the forest's edge and carries it to the middle of the lawn, laying it down before her book. She kneels before the stone, chanting, "Averyare Leyoniel, Omines Coridriel," tearing up a handfuls of grass, wiping each fistful of blades over the top of the stone before setting them down on one side, until the center is ringed by torn blades.

The taller girl tries not to collide with Alice on the way back, carrying four white candles and a book of matches in one hand and four small clay candle-holders in her other.

The unicorn doll is laid at center of the stone, positioned carefully so as to stand on all fours, though his head sags to the ground. Nymuae shakes her own head, still chanting the same words. She holds out her hand for the candles as Agatha returns.

Alice stumbles out of the way of Agatha, dropping a white rock in the process, though she hurries over to Nymuae's side with hands full of more. Once beside Nymuae, she places the pile of stones beside her and steps back, folding her hands together and looking on anxiously.

Agatha attaches the holders to the candles, handing them over to Nymuae and then squatting down with a match held ready to be lit.

Kuon barks around Alice's feet energetically as she rushes up, and watches the proceedings with great fascination.

When Kuon runs up, Alice drops down and reaches over to hug him again, this time for out of nervousness.

Taking the candles first, Nymuae sets them in their holders, then positions them in a diamond pattern in the grass around the stone -- one at each of the four compass points. White rocks go on top of the stone, in an inner mirror of the candle pattern, then four more on the grass, at the northwest, northeast, southeast and southwest compass points. Nymuae pauses, and bows her head. "Sit on my right, Agatha," she says, "and Angel, on my left."

Agatha kneels down in the grass on Nymuae's right side, and tries to reassure Alice, "It'll be okay. This will help us find Lord Mel in Mirari."

"Okay," says Alice. She reluctantly lets go of the dog, giving him a brief worried look before moving over to find her place. She holds up her hands, looks between them, then makes an L shape with her left and seems to remember her direction with the trick. Shortly after she sits down, brushing her dress carefully as she does so.

Destre keeps an eye on the proceedings as well, clearly wishing he could be doing more to help. The greyhound sits next to Alice, tail flipping side to side.

"I ... I know, Agatha. I ... I'm just worried about Lord Mel," says Alice as she looks over.

"Call the West, Agatha, and ask it for news of Lord Protector Melchizedek. When she is done, Angel, thou wilt do ask the East for the same," Nymuae instructs. She strikes a match, and lights the candle on the opposite side of the rock from herself.

Agatha blinks, and wonders just how you call a direction. "Uh ... I call the West!" she says, a little uncertainly. "I seek news of Lord Protector Melchizedek!"

Alice watches Rebecca until she finishes, and then Alice begins her own incantation. She speaks with the voice of someone who is fairly confident in their words, lacking the uncertainty of Agatha's own request. "I call you, 'o Wind of the East, and I ask of the Lord Protector!" she calls out. A second later she adds quickly, "Please!"

Agatha's words echo in the night air, still save the chirping of single cricket. A moth or a butterfly flits closer to them, lured by the flame, as Nymuae lights the candle in front of Agatha, then the one before Alice. Finally, she lights her own, and extinguishes the match. "The North do I call, to bring me tidings, and the South do I call, to give a warning: I will know where Lord Protector Melchizedek is, though all the world stand between me and him. Bring him to me! North, South, East, West! Bring me that which I seek!"

A sudden wind stirs in the grass, and the single cricket stops chirping. All but one candle is extinguished by the breeze, which swirls around the three young women, whipping at their hair. Then, over the last candle, a black unicorn stands, as if carved from marble, but his mane and tail blaze, red and orange flames that crackle, matched by his eyes.

Agatha's mouth drops open, and she tries to keep her hair from blowing into her face.

Alice sits up on her knees, leaning forward to peer into the darkness, and at the apparition beyond the candle. She too gapes at the sight, until she thinks to lift her hand to cover her mouth -- though still watching in wide-eyed amazement. Her other hand shakes faintly as she raises it to point at the unicorn.

Kuon stands and barks excitedly at the apparition! It doesn't seem like a typical doggish reaction to a threatening surprise, but rather, a fervent welcome and greeting. He seems reluctant to actually bound into the area of the spell, however.

The unicorn bows his head, silently, to all three girls, kneeling to them. His mouth opens, but whatever words he speaks are torn away by a silent, invisible wind.

"Where art thou, Lord Melchizedek?" Nymuae asks, half a plea and half a demand. "Who has trapped thee?"

Lord Melchizedek shakes his head, almost as if impatient with one who has asked the wrong question. His outline blurs, rippling like a mirage.

Destre leans forward, intent on Melchizedek's appearance. The stall door creaks with his weight.

"Does that mean he isn't trapped?" Agatha asks, confused. "Are you in Mirari, Lord Mel?" she asks.

Alice lets the hand fall from her mouth, squeaks something unintelligible, then covers her mouth up again and points more in amazement, looking to Kuon and back as if wondering if he sees it too.

Kuon makes a questioning bark and whines at Alice, as if not sure what exactly she means to be pointing out. He certainly did see the apparition, however, as evidenced by the way his eyes return to it.

The unicorn nods his head, exhaling. He gazes pointedly over Agatha's head -- to the West. Then he turns his attention to Alice, and bows again, then glances to Nymuae. Again, he tries to speak, but whatever he says is inaudible to their ears.

"Dammit!" Nymuae swears. "Lord Protector, how can we find you?"

"He's in the West! Where Thomas went looking for ... the Jack of Hearts!" Agatha says, figuring that must be what the unicorn means.

The Lord Protector's gaze returns to Agatha, with a sharp nod as she speaks Thomas's name. The fire in his eyes and mane blazes fiercely at the mention of the Jack of Hearts, and he rears, hooves pawing defiance at the empty air.

It takes Alice a moment more, but her hand does lower again and this time she makes sense. "In ... in the w-w-w-est ..?" She looks at herself, then westward, and points that way now. "D-did something happen with Tommy and his card man ... the Jack of Hearts? Did you meet him, Lord Mel?"

A single nod from the unicorn as he descends to all fours. The fire around his mane and tail darkens, then is extinguished. He stands, still as a statue of obsidian, staring into the West. The breeze ripples through him -- then the image is gone, and the girls and animals are alone on the lawn once more.

"Well, at least Tom wanted to explore in the right direction," Agatha says after the image fades. "I guess we need to move fast now."

"Yes," Nymuae says. She reaches forward to pinch out the last candle, then stands. "I will return for you tomorrow afternoon."

Standing up, Agatha tells Alice, "I'll go home with you to talk to your folks about a camping trip, okay?"

Alice nods energetically, and reaching down pushes herself to standing quickly. Though her dress is partially covered in grass and dirt she seems not to notice at all. Instead she waves everyone towards her as she turn to hurry away. "Okay, Agatha! But we have to go!" She reaches over to take Agatha's hand, and tugs the bigger girl to come along quickly. "Go no-ow. Lord Mel is in trouble!"

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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.