Rapping, Rapping at the Door (30 May 2002) A raven comes knocking at Caer Bannuac.

Early morning brings a tap-tap-tapping at the door, waking Agatha from her sleep as she wonders who might be knocking. Nearby is Hannah, stirring in her bedroll as well, and Ahearn and Fiona have roused and make curious horse noises. The fire has long died in its hearth, and the stones of the walls are coated with dew.

Hall of Caer Bannuac
The grey stone hall at the base of Caer Bannuac features a greatly battered but still sturdy door, bolted shut against intruders, but not of great effect against the pervasive winter chill, and the flickering torches on sconces lining the great spiral staircase provide no heat -- hinting at their magical nature. The task of warming those staying in the ruin is left to a great hearth set next to the base of the stairs, burning scavenged broken boards as fuel.

There comes the polite, but insistent tapping again. taktaktak

Agatha gets to her feet wearily, not having gotten quite enough sleep as she'd have liked. She manages a few steps towards the door before coming to her senses and retrieving her sword first, then checking on Hannah.

Hannah rolls over onto her side facing Agatha, then sits up blearily. She yawns, then says, "Are you hearing that tapping on the door, too?"

tak taktaktak

The mortal girl nods. "Yeah. Think we should answer it?"

Hannah slides out of her bedroll, coming fully awake very quickly. She takes up her own rapier and unsheathes it. "Should we ask, 'Who goes there?' first, do you think?"

taktaktak ... taktak

"Ah, good idea," Agatha agrees, more awake now. Holding her sword, she approaches the door and calls out, "Who is it?"

The tapping pauses, and then there is a double-tap in response: tak tak

Hannah comes up behind Agatha, listening to the tapping. "Want me to go up to the ruined horn of the tower and have a look down? Perhaps I can see whoever it is from there."

"I think it's a bird," Agatha tells Hannah. "Nymuae sent one before, so be careful when you look outside. It might try to fly in if it sees you up there."

taktaktak

Hannah mutters, "Insistent bird, if bird it be." She then heads up the stairs to the towers.

Agatha tries to keep the attention of the visitor while Hannah goes to the lookout. "So, if you understand me, tap twice," she says through the door.

tak tak

"Ah, that's a start," the girl notes. "That can be our code then, twice for yes and once for no. Now, do you know who I am?"

Tak... A bit of a pause, and then a second tak.

Agatha hmms. "Okay, given who I am, I can probably understand that. Are you looking for somebody in particular?"

Tak!

"No?" Agatha asks, somewhat surprised. "Well then... uh... are you a messenger?"

A pause, and then taptaptap as if whomever is on the other side of the door is getting impatient.

With a sigh, Agatha says, "Be patient. We aren't prepared for visitors just yet." Since there's some time to kill before Hannah can see who or what is outside, Agatha gets the fire rebuilt and starts boiling some water for tea.

Hannah comes back down the stairs at a trot, her face ruddy from the activity and the cold winter air. "It's a crow," she announces to the red-haired girl. "It's perched on the handle of the door and is tapping away with its beak. If it's so insistent to get to us, it must be a messenger from House October, since their animal is the crow. Do you know anyone from October who would be trying to get something to you?"

The tapping at the door stops while Hannah's footsteps are heard coming back down the stairs, then resumes again a few moments later, at one of the shuttered windows. taktaktakclink

"Could be just about anyone, from the Lord down to the Captain of the Guard," Agatha says, and goes to the window to let the bird inside.

A crow flutters its wings for balance as the shutters are unlatched, then flies in, cawing. "Guard!"

Closing the window behind the bird, Agatha then turns and asks, "Guard against what?"

Hannah was about to re-sheath her sword, but at the crow's call of "Guard!" she hesitates, an eyebrow lifted towards the creature.

"What?" the crow croaks. A tiny scroll case is secured to its left leg, visible as it paces back and forth on the stair's railing. Wings flap and flutter.

Muttering, "Birdbrain," under her breath, Aggie tries to get the message from the scroll case. "Stand still, and I'll give you some bread."

"Bread?" the crow repeats, head twitching from side to side as he eyes her with each one in turn. For whatever motive, it stays put, allowing Agatha to disengage the scroll case.

"Finally!" Agatha says, and fishes out a stale biscuit from her supplies for the crow, then unfolds the message.

Hannah ahs and does go back to put her rapier back into its scabbard. "I must not be fully awake yet; I momentarily forgot how crows like to repeat your words back to you." This done, she turns back to Agatha as she reads the message from the scroll case. "Unless you ask them something directly, twice. Then you might get more sense out of them. Possibly."

The messenger pecks eagerly at the hard cracker, breaking off one corner and snapping it up in triumph. The bird continues at this work while Agatha studies the contents of the scroll case.

"Drats," Agatha mutters as she finishes the letter. "I should have thought to send the camera with Alice in the first place. What do you make of all this, Hannah?"

While Agatha is occupied with the message, Ahearn opens the door and clip-clops outside. He sniffs at the air, then flicks his tail to Hannah's mare, beckoning her. The two crunch together through the snow, scouting for any lurking trolls.

Hannah takes the letter from Agatha and studies it. She nods at the information presented near the end, as if she recognizes it, but frowns as she scans through other sections of it. "Well, the parts about the animals of the Houses I know and understand from my lessons as a child - and from personal experience with the Dark Witch, I know about some of the deceptions warlocks and witches use. But many other parts are new to me; being cut off from the rest of Mirari for a Year has put me behind on much of its news."

After swallowing a fragment of the biscuit, the crow caws, "News!" and scratches at the railing.

"One thing I do not understand," Hannah adds, frowning, "is this mention of Simon. I know that the person introduced to me as 'Simon' - although I had almost forgotten that was his name, somehow - is with Thomas and Rachel. How can he be with Lord April, as well?"

"Well, everyone's still fighting over the succession, it looks like," Agatha notes. "In the prophecy about Lord Mel and the final confrontation with Year's End, Nymuae is the Sorceress mentioned and Simon was our Jester at the time. Maybe he left them when they neared April's lands." Agatha looks thoughtful. "We know the Simon with Tom and Rachel is wearing some sort of disguise, from the pictures we took of him with the Optikon, so it may not be the same Simon after all."

Agatha goes to the door to keep an eye on the steeds. "Do you know anything about this Book of Rules mentioned in the letter?" she asks Hannah.

Hannah blinks at Agatha's mention of the Optikon. "One minute - you have an Optikon? I thought that was an item of legend only!" Suddenly, she grins. "Of course, I should be used to surprises from those of the mortal world by now, but still!"

"Nymuae has a better one," Agatha comments. "They're pretty common in my world, but I don't know if they'd really even work here. All the pictures we took with it were in the mortal world, after all."

Hannah shakes her head as she considers this. "Well, the Lord Explorer did say you had many fascinating machines there.... Hmm." Then she gets back to the questions at hand. "As for Simon, I do not think they would have traveled near April's lands, since that would be a bit out of the way, considering the route we think Thomas is taking. So that is a very odd thing, indeed."

"Indeed!" the messenger bird crows. It pecks at what's left of the hard biscuit, hopping off the railing to get crumbs that have fallen to the floor.

Hannah then says, "Speaking to the Rules of Mirari - well, simply stated, they are the laws that govern our lands. Many of the Lords and Ladies have their own written copies of the Rules - even the King and Queen themselves, I should think."

"When you say laws, do you mean agreed upon ones or physical ones?" Agatha asks, returning to the proximity of the fire and moving the kettle away from it. "And would you like some tea?"

Hannah ohs! "Yes, morning tea would do me some good, thank you." She moves to sit on top of her bedroll, fiddling with the letter absently. "I think you may have to re-phrase that question, Agatha. I'm not sure I understand what you mean. 'Agreed upon?' They are the Rules that we must live by. To break them would be unthinkable."

"Unthinkable!" The crow pecks at the dirt and dust accumulated around the base of the stairs, then flaps its wings. A short hop of flight carries it to Hannah, and it pokes its beak at the message in her hands.

Hannah grimaces and waves a hand at the bird. "Hey, stop that!" she says, irritated.

"Stop that!" The bird echoes. It hops away at her waving hand, then returns, eyes fixed on the letter Hannah holds.

"I wonder if we're supposed to reply?" Agatha says, noting the bird's antics while she finishes preparing tea. "Unless he has to deliver it someone else next." She brings the tea over, pursing her lip in thought. "Interesting. We're supposed to be able to change the Rules, but I doubt any one of us could have that effect on our own. There were always at least two of us together when we ... affected things here in Mirari. And Alice and I were together when we felt that weird ripple in the world too."

Hannah now quirks an eyebrow at the red-haired girl. "A ripple in the world? What do you mean?" She then turns to the pestering crow and addresses it directly. "Why are you trying to take this letter? Tell me truly, why are you trying to take this letter from me?"

Agatha sits down and relates, "While Alice and I were guests at House October, we felt ... saw ... the world go flat around us. Like we were suddenly standing in a painting, almost. Then it passed, and nobody else noticed anything had happened, except for one tree-boy who said he felt as if he'd just lost a close friend."

"Because Lady Redmane is the first that I've found," the crow answers, straightforward. "It must still go on to the Lord Explorer. Though there's another carrier for the one to the Lady Sorceress."

Jumping up, Agatha spills half her tea on the leg of her trousers. "Ow! In that case, we can send our own message to Thomas!" She rushes over to her pack and searches it. "Do you have anything to write with, Hannah?"

Hannah nods, starting to get up. "That's possible, although you may have to write your message on the back of this one; that scroll case doesn't look like it would hold any more sheets of parchment." She then goes to rummage around in her own things. "Let me check for a pen and inks. Now, did I bring any with me this time...?"

The crow hops from foot to foot, then flaps over to the railing again. There he rests, patiently, while the two girls work out a solution to the problem of composing a message.

"There might be some ink in the old study," Agatha suggests, more intent now on what to write then on how to write it.

Hannah makes a quiet "Aha!" of triumph. She brings Agatha a somewhat battered quill pen, a half-full pot of black ink, and a small pot of sand. "I hope these will do?"

"Ah, great!" Agatha appraises, then furrows her brow at the sand. "What's the sand for?"

Hannah smiles. "The sand is to sprinkle over your writing so that it will soak up the excess ink and not smear your page. Then you simply brush it away. Do you not use this method of writing in the mortal world? Or is there a machine for that, too?"

"Our ink dries faster, I guess," Agatha says, thinking of fountain pens. "Maybe you'd better write it down, though. I've never used a quill before. We need to tell Thomas to wait for us before going into the Icejaw Pit or beyond it." With a grin, Agatha suggests, "Say that we have vital information that can't be sent with the letter but is critical to our success. That should keep him from leaving us behind, or else convince Rachel to talk him into sticking around."

Hannah grins in response, then takes the writing supplies back. Clearing a suitable space on the stony floor, she uncaps the bottles of ink and sand, dips the quill in the ink and flips the letter over, ready to take down Agatha's words.

Agatha dictates, "Thomas, wait for us outside Icejaw Pit. We have information vital to success of mission. Do not go off on your own, we mean it! Yours truly, Hannah and Redmane. P.S.: Rachel, do what you have to keep Thomas from running ahead."

Hannah laughs before asking, "Is that really what you want me to say? If I put that down, Thomas may take off again, just to spite us!"

Agatha thinks about it. "Can you think of a more diplomatic way to say, 'stay put and don't do anything stupid, no matter how right you think it is to do'?"

"Oh! I'm good at that sort of thing!" comes a small feline voice, then, "Oops!" The cross-eyed grey cat looks around from where she'd been hiding under the tattered fringe of a tapestry -- and suddenly licks her paw, as if she was not about to pounce the raven before contributing to the conversation like this.

Spying the cat, Agatha asks, "Well, how would you phrase it, Bragwaine?"

Hannah's eyes twinkle merrily. "Oh, this should be good," she mutters under her breath, waiting for the cat's reply.

The crow squawks, "Good!" spotting the young cat, and skitters a few hops up the railing, farther from the Siamese. It fixes one eye on the feline, watching her closely.

The Siamese eyes the raven longingly, then sighs, and wriggles out from underneath the tapestry, trying to look aloof. "How about the guilt approach? The damsels in distress angle?" As she prances across the cold stone floor, she meows, "Honor demands that we press on to assist you, though we are aware that we lack your great skills in finding interesting things and avoiding danger. We would be most grateful if you might tarry a little for us to catch up, so we are not forced to brave the dangers of the wild on our own."

Agatha stares open-mouthed at the cat. "He'd never believe it was from us!" she finally says. "Even if Hannah was a sort of damsel in distress at one time." She looks askance to Hannah. "Err, would he?"

The cat sulks. "Oh, mouse-breath." She sticks out her tongue. "It works so well on knights. Maybe you should address it to Sir Lefallon."

Hannah looks as if she doesn't know whether to laugh or be disgruntled. "We may be many things, Bragwaine, but damsels in distress we are not. Besides, as Agatha says, Thomas would never believe it!"

"It's not nice to play on a Knight's sense of duty you know," Agatha says to the cat. "But there may be something to this guilt idea. Thomas is very big on guilt," she notes, and rubs her chin in thought.

The cat sits on her haunches, sighing melodramatically. "Well, what does work with him? Pride? Play on his pride. Perhaps Lady Hannah wishes to see the wilds, and just wouldn't have quite the same experience without the Lord Explorer's insights as a guide."

"Maybe a sort of 'situation desperate, please wait' would work," Agatha ponders out loud. "I mean, it's not exactly a fib ... since his situation will be desperate if he doesn't wait for us. It would help if we knew where he was, though. For all we know, we'll get there before he does, assuming we make it past Point of Peril in a reasonable amount of time."

The cat gets up, and sniffs in interest at the paper, pacing back and forth. Finally, she walks right up and sits on the letter. "Oh well. It's not important anyway. I'm the cat. I'm cute. Pet me!"

Agatha absent-mindedly pets the cat.

"Meow." Bragwaine purrs triumphantly.

Hannah swiftly moves the pots of ink and sand out of harm's way as Bragwaine sits. She sighs. "If we pet you for a minute, will you let me have the parchment back so I can write this note to Thomas? We don't have all day to be about this."

"That's right. We have to ride soon if we want to get to the Point before the monsters wake up," Agatha points out to the cat. "You're coming with us, remember."

Bragwaine sniffs. "The parchment is much more comfy to sit on than the cold stone floor. But ... oh, very well. You have no sense of priorities, really. Hmph!" She throws her head back, and daintily steps off the parchment, looking for something else important to sit on instead.

"Hmph!" the crow echoes. It flaps off its perch to circle high overhead, cawing.

Hannah just shakes her head after Bragwaine, then returns her attention to Agatha. "So, I should write something along the lines of, 'Situation desperate, we have vital information to give you before you attempt to journey any further, please wait for our arrival?' With an added, 'We mean it!' for emphasis?" she adds, grinning.

Agatha nods, and says, "Yeah, essentially. If he gets there first and doesn't wait for us, maybe we'd end up stranded? I mean, we can't afford to just camp out there."

"Oh!" Hannah says. "In addition, I suppose we should give him some indication of where we are, in case he wants to reply to us?"

"Is there some clever way to tell him we're heading to Point of Peril without saying so directly?" Agatha asks, thinking of Tom's own cryptic letter detailing his route. "Like ... oh ... 'Our situation is perilous at this point in our route' or something?"

Bragwaine meows, "Oooo! Yes, and you could give it in some sort of obscure code, to confound any spies who might intercept it! Ixnay on the Oblingay Atinlay, oughthay."

"I suppose there must be some sort of Golden Hawks code," Agatha notes. "Do you know of any, Hannah?"

Hannah considers the red-haired girl's suggestion of a coded line in their letter. "Yes, that might even be a good way to start our note. So how would you phrase the rest of it, Agatha?"

The cat grooms one paw, then meows, "Well, if only you'd ever been out this way before, you could make obscure references to things that happened while you were here or there, that only the both of you would know about."

"Tom is the one who gave me the map we have," Agatha notes to Bragwaine. "I think it's reasonable to assume he'll recognize the landmarks on it," she adds, and thinks of how to compose the note properly.

Bragwaine nods approvingly, then looks to the raven, perhaps thinking of how to depose the bird properly.

Agatha recites, "Thomas, we are proceeding with caer towards a rendezvous with you, although our path will soon become more perilous. Please, do not enter into the jaws of danger before we join you, as our resources will be sparse when we arrive."

"Will be bringing an old friend and a new one whom you will be familiar with," Agatha continues. "I look forward to seeing you once more in good health. Your friend, Redmane."

"How's that?" Agatha asks, looking hopeful. "I mean, he sent me the route he was taking, so he must want to meet up at some point. Probably."

"Lovely!" Bragwaine says with a purr, "Though, veiled threats of bodily harm should he do anything rash do have a certain charm, so I must confess your original plan still has some appeal."

Hannah grins and shakes her head at the first part of Agatha's first sentence, but she writes all of it down. However, she does ask, "Can I make that 'As your resources will be sparse before we arrive?' Just to give him more of an indication that he really needs what information we bring him before he strikes out again?"

Agatha hmms, then nods. "Okay. I guess I was trying for guilt to keep him from abandoning us, but letting him know we have something to contribute will be good."

"Aha! And if his supplies are not sparse, then perhaps he will be tempted to stay behind so he can gloat at us for ever doubting him!" Bragwaine meows. "Sheer genius!"

"Thomas has never lacked for the element of supplies," Agatha says, straight-faced.

The cat blinks a few times, then falls over and makes a pained and drawn-out, "Me-OWWWWWW!"

"Surprise!" the crow caws. He lands on Agatha's head.

"Ahh!" Agatha yelps and tries to shoo the bird from her head.

With a few more strokes on her pen, Hannah finishes the letter, then sprinkles the writing with sand and lets it blot up the excess ink. As she brushes away the sand moments later, she smiles over to the cat. "Thank you. I need all the flashes of inspiration I can get!"

"Ah! You're done, then! Here, just give me that letter, and I'll deliver it to our raven friend here," Bragwaine offers, solicitously.

"Would Thomas have any cause to recognize your handwriting?" Agatha asks Hannah once she recovers being momentarily raven-haired. "And I think we'll reattach the scroll case ourselves, Miss Kitty," she tells the feline.

Hannah passes the letter directly to Agatha, obviously thinking that this is the best idea, as well.

Bragwaine meows, "I'm fairly certain he won't suppose the trolls wrote it. I suppose Mister Raven could vouch for the sender, hmm?" She looks distinctly disappointed at being left out of the exchange.

Agatha refolds the letter and inserts into the tiny scroll case. "Okay, raven, stand still while I tie this to your leg."

"Yes! Hold very still!" Bragwaine urges.

At this last outburst of Bragwaine's, Hannah picks her up and puts the cat into her lap. She starts petting her, as a distraction.

The cat melts in Hannah's lap. "PurrrrrRRRRR!"

The crow has proven surprisingly difficult to dislodge from Agatha's hair, but when Hannah gets the cat into her lap, the bird finally relents. He submits to standing on the railing in front of Agatha while she fastens the scroll case on, with tiny brass buckles on leather straps.

Opening the window for the crow, Agatha steps back and pats her hair back into shape as best she can.

"Still!" the crow caws. It brushes its beak against the side of Agatha's hand in an affectionate fashion, then flutters out the window.

Bragwaine's eyes snap open. "HEY!" she meows, and leaps out of Hannah's lap, pouncing ... the bird's shadow that runs up the wall. She bonks against the wall, then goes sprawling. She blinks, and looks up, disoriented. "Didn't even bid farewell! How rude!"

Agatha closes the window after the bird, and then goes to put on her cloak. "I'll go see to the horses and recover my lance, if the trolls haven't tried to eat it. We should move out soon."

Hannah watches the crow fly away on its next mission, then starts putting her writing supplies away. "Agreed. I shall make a start to packing our things away while you do so?"

"Mustn't forget anything!" Bragwaine sing-songs. "Meow!"

"Sounds good!" Agatha says, and opens the door. "And take care with that last potion. Might not be safe to let Bragwaine curl up around it the whole way."

Bragwaine pouts at this last admonition. Suddenly, her whiskers tingle. "I detect ... it is now time for me to run through the tower at alarming speed for no apparently good reason -- to drive away the evil demons behind the walls!" And with that, she starts galloping to and fro, knocking random things over, scrambling and falling over, then running the other way.

Agatha rolls her eyes at the cat's antics before leaving the tower to find the knightsteeds.

Hannah flashes the red-haired girl one of her lop-sided grins. "Probably a wise idea," she calls after Agatha. "Especially considering this latest display of, uh, 'energy!'"

Outside, Agatha catches up to Ahearn and gets the all-clear from the Lord of the Horses. Confident than no trolls are about to jump out of the buildings, the girl recovers her lance and cleans it off in the snow on the way back to the tower. Along the way, she runs her fingers through her hair, but takes some heart in the idea that even with bits of troll blood clotting it, her worst hair day will still outdo Tom's best one.

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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.