Testing the Optikon (5 Oct 2001) At Hawksmoor Keep, our heroes test out a marvelous device known as the Optikon.

Hawksmoor Keep
This fortress, built high in the giant trees for added protection, is located on the borders of the dark woods where the Jruuh and other wild, malevolent beasts roam. Looking over the hewn timber ramparts into the inky-black forest, it's easy to sense their malice. A handful of soldiers go about their business of manning the walls in chain mail, carrying spears. The flag of the Golden Hawks flies immediately beneath that of the arms of Mirari, a crowned unicorn rampant, from a pole at the center of the courtyard, next to the barracks where the Explorers and the royal party have been quartered, and the armory, and an open air kitchen tented by stretched cloth dispenses stew.

While the search for the missing King of Mirari has gone fruitless thus far, the Jruuh have encroached steadily on the land, and so Explorer Thomas has deemed now a propitious moment to seek out their lair and, hopefully, drive them back. Standing with him on the ramparts are Lady Redmane, senior knight of His Majesty's chivalry, and Sir Lefallon, a new recruit who seems eager to test his mettle. (He has spoken of preparing himself to quest for a holy artifact called the Grail.)

Standing with Thomas too are the Princess Angel and the Lady Raven -- much to his dismay, for he would have preferred that they be safe within the walls of the capitol itself. Several soldiers of His Majesty's Guard have been detailed to protect them, but their dresses and the sorcerous wand the Princess carries stand out amidst the armed and armored party.

The wind picks up, sending the flags flying due southeast. With the suspected lair to the northwest, any betraying scents of the party will be carried away from the Jruuh sentries.

In his usual manner, Thomas stands between two timbers of the ramparts that are normally used for an archery point. He shifts his woolen mantle off his shoulders, letting it hang more like a cloak. He inhales softly, taking in the scents of the forest that travel on the breeze, then hops back down into the walkway of the fortress. His shirt glints, the explorer wearing tightly linked chain-mail. It is unusual garb for him, but due to the dangers of the mission, and Redmane's advice, he decided to wear some armor. On his left hip is a one-handed long sword with a simple leather-wrapped grip -- on his right, a hip pouch containing a few food supplies, some candles, and flint and steel. He picks up his backpack on the nearby floor and goes to meet the rest of the group. On the way, he checks to make sure he's stocked rope, a lantern, and various hunting and fishing supplies should they need to be gone for an extended period of time.

Armored for travel, Redmane too wears chain and leathers, supplemented by a breastplate and a buckler shield strapped to her left arm. Her own pack carries few supplies, most notably an oil lantern and what she hopes proves to be an Optikon. For now, she leans against a support pillar and relaxes within the safety of the fortress.

Lady Raven stands a little apart from the others, her long black hair French-braided down her back, a single white ribbon interwoven through the locks. She fingers the tasseled end of her braid, looking into the dark forest. "Lord Thomas," she begins, her accent lengthening the "o" in his name. "Your message said you believed you had found ... the lair of the jruuh?"

As the others prepare, the princess of Mirari busily goes about fretting over her things. As her royal handmaidens are safely at the capitol and thus -- unfortunately for the princess -- unavailable, she makes do with directing a few of her guard to assist her. "Do be a help and fetch my cloak. The thick light blue with the fur collar, not the blue and white or my royal cloak," she directs one before turning to another. "Oh, and ... here. Return this to good keeping." She offers the guard her more ornate tiara and dons a simple silver circlet. Smiling, she looks over towards the others in the party. "I do believe I'm almost ready!" she calls out.

Sir Lefallon is a small fellow for a knight but seems wiry, dressed in a chain mail shirt, carrying a shorter sword than the Lady Redmane's, and equipped with a shield bearing the coat of arms of an orange rabbit against a field of brown. "It is an honor to aid you in this dangerous mission, Explorer Thomas," he says as he sharpens his sword with a whetstone before returning it to its scabbard. "I pray that God will give me the strength to fight at your side and the courage to stand fast, no matter how daunting our enemies be." He smiles to Lady Redmane, who has been seen tutoring him of late, in the wake of his vision of angelic prophecy.

"Yes," Thomas replies gravely, "There's a cave to the northwest of this fortress. Recently, I was scouting the area and tracking prints. I found a great many at this cave. The prints seemed to mill about there, almost like a den. I dared not enter too far, for fear that some may have been in residence. It is the best hope we've had in finding them for some time." The explorer then turns to Sir Lefallon. "It is you who honor us by coming, good knight. We need the aid of warriors in times like this. I am certain you will be of great aid to all of us. Perhaps I will learn from you and Redmane, eh? I'm not as skilled in the arts of battle. This is one of the few times I've taken up blade and armor."

Sir Lefallon blushes. "In truth, I am as untried as yourself, brave Explorer, and so I pray that experience and new vistas will teach me as to how I must proceed in my own quest." He looks nervously over the ramparts. "Tell me of these Jruuhs, milord-- how should we fight them, should we find them?"

"Monsters are easier to fight than men," Redmane assures the explorer and junior knight. "But we've never faced Jruuh in numbers before in a physical fight. The Princess Angel's magic defeated them before it became necessary."

The guards look long-suffering as they help the princess with her attire. "Here you are, milady," one is heard to say as he brings her a cloak. "Will there be ... anything else?"

Tom chuckles softly. "The Jruuh are strange dark creatures. Shifting, shadowy monsters. You don't normally see them; you hear them," Thomas explains, voice low. "A soft growl that grows in intensity. Dark objects that dart in the corners of your eyes as they circle, waiting ..." He nods to Redmane and says, "And as Knight Redmane says, we've used magic to defeat them in the past. But, it may not work in numbers. This will be a learning experience for us all." He glances back toward the Princess and Raven. "And it is magic that convinced me to allow them to accompany us. They have skill in it; we do not. I worry for their safety, but as long as we stay together, I believe we should fare well."

Meanwhile, the princess dons the thick and fur-lined accessory with a bit of help from one of the local ladies. Compared to her usual raiment, the princess's garb could be considered rather plain -- plain, that is, for a royal princess. Her cloak lacks the embroidered crowned unicorn of her house and though thick, it does not trail along the ground as some of her cloaks do. Her dress is reserved in its lace and made of sturdier stuff than what she might wear at court. Velvet replaces silk, and it's as close to armor as the princess can manage -- or will accept. Even her circlet is free of ornamentation, though being made of pure silver, it is not entirely free of opulence. With her cloak now donned one of the guards offers a leather book bag and her silvered wand and she appears at last ready. And she announces much the same, "Yes, I do believe I'm ready, Lord Thomas!"

"I hope it will not come to a test of any one's skill at arms," Lady Raven says, her voice as somber as the explorer's. "Is this the cave you explored before, Lord Thomas, with the other Golden Hawks?"

Sir Lefallon rubs his chin. "Very well, then, milord Explorer. Perhaps we will be granted insight sorcerous or miraculous, but failing that, none will say that we have not done our utmost to extirpate this threat to Mirari!" He stands straighter as he declares this last.

"And thank you so very much for your timely assistance. The crown smiles on you all," offers the princess to those that helped her prepare. She offers them all a bright smile, too.

"It seemed familiar to me, as did the area around it," Thomas admits, "but I have been through many caves. It may well be one I have traveled before. Perhaps the Jruuhs' dark magic has made it appear different enough that I can no longer fully recognize it. It could be very different inside, if that were the case." His head turns and nods to Lefallon. "Well said, Knight. But, don't throw your life away needlessly. Better to live, to help protect another day than to fight a hopeless battle, no?"

"If possible, I would like to capture one of the creatures," Redmane says, still leaning against the support. "I have a device which might reveal their true natures, be they merely disguised as Jruuh."

Lady Raven smiles in return at the princess, and then nods to Redmane. "It would be a blessing indeed to gain more insight into their true nature. But, tell me -- what device is this, that you have come by?"

Tom folds his hands together behind his back and paces slowly. "Knight Redmane," he says, "I need your advice on how we should travel that would best defend Lady Raven and the Princess. I thought one of us should travel in front of them. The other two travel on either side, just behind them -- sort of a triangle formation. What say you?" He then nods. "So, you acquired the device. Wonderful."

"An Optikon, Lady Raven," the lady knight says, "although it has not yet been tested. And I agree with the Lord Explorer's strategy."

"An Optikon!" The oracle's eyes widen. "A wonderful find, indeed. I hope it proves genuine. Might I see it, Knight Redmane?"

The junior knight brushes back his short pageboy haircut, then dons a skullcap helm. "I shall do my utmost to see to the safety of the Princess and the Lady Oracle," he vows.

The explorer walks over to Lady Raven, also curious about the Optikon device.

Redmane removes the box-like device from her pack, and offers it to the Seeress. "It requires daylight to operate properly, and the results will not be known until an alchemical process is applied, but I hope it will be adequate."

"Merely aim the jeweled eye on the front at the subject to be tested, and press down on this stud," she explains. "This lever must be turned before another subject can be tested."

Princess Angel gives her entourage a few more words of thanks and then dismisses them politely before she makes her way over to join Lord Thomas and Lady Raven. As she walks, she draws her thick cloak about herself and peers at the device Lady Redmane holds. "Oh! Then you were able to procure one? Oh ... most impressive, my knight!" she exclaims upon seeing it. "It will be a wonderful help."

With a soft cry of delight, Lady Raven accepts the item, holding it reverently between her fingers. She turns it this way and that, examining it with care. "It is very like the legends I have heard of such," she acknowledges, impressed. She holds the view-lens to her eye for a moment, then offers it Explorer Thomas for his perusal.

Lady Redmane bows to the Princess. "I certainly hope so, Your Highness."

Sir Lefallon admires the device as well. "Is it of sorcerous or miraculous origin?" he asks. "How came you by this marvelous device?"

"Pity," Thomas says, "If it was faster, I would've suggested that we use the device on our party before departure to make sure we are all who we claim to be." The Explorer accepts the Optikon and looks over it, then offers it back to Redmane. "Keep it safe," he says. The Explorer then leans in and whispers to Lady Raven, "M'lady, are you certain you wish to travel with us? If anything were to happen to you..." His voice trails off.

"It was created by the wizard Ko-Dack," Redmane tells the other knight as she packs the device. "I will have to tell you of the quest to acquire it when we have more time though, for I would not wish to delay our venture."

Sir Lefallon looks dismayed. "Surely no impostor could have infiltrated our party! Can this device only be used once or a few times, as I have heard many such artifacts might be?"

"Can you imagine? Dubious doppelgangers amongst us, why --" The princess shivers delicately. "-- the very thought is quite disturbing."

"It is capable of two dozen uses before it must be recharged," Redmane explains.

"Well, that is a plenitude then," the younger knight observes. "And what of this recharging process? Is it ... difficult?" He laughs uneasily. "I trust that none of us traffic in such noxious substances as baby's breath or eye of newt."

"No, fortunately the chef didn't prepare our supplies this time," the Explorer jokes, trying to help relieve a bit of the tension.

"I was able to charge it the first time without too much difficulty," Redmane says, but adds, "I was careful to study the instructions thoroughly first, though."

Lady Raven moves to the elevator, where the men are drawing it up the fortress, that the party may depart. "A disturbing thought indeed," she says. On the elevator, a fiber on one of the graying ropes seems to be sticking out a bit. It twitches slightly as the rope shifts, the elevator taking on its load, and the stray fiber suddenly moves up the rope a few feet, and pauses. She frowns as it disappears for a split second, then smiles as she notes it's a small greyish lizard, spiraling around the rope as it continues climbing, then scurries around the pulley, gone from sight. She turns back to Thomas and the others. "Even if it is too late to know the results before we begin this venture, perhaps it would be wise to test the device on ourselves, now."

"But we would need a guise to see through, would we not?" asks the princess. "Otherwise could we be certain of its function?"

Tom nods and heads over to the elevator to stand beside Lady Raven. He turns to the others and says, "Princess, would you ask one of your guards to use it on us, please? Everyone, please come together so we may use the device on all of us in one shot and not waste its 'charges'."

Redmane unpacks and prepares the device. "And the Princess speaks true. It would be no true test if we did not have someone disguised by glamour."

"True, it would be best if we had one we knew was disguised, for the Optikon to expose...." Lady Raven gazes off, biting her lower lip.

Sir Lefallon nods. "If you think it wise, Lady Raven. I volunteer to learn the workings of this miraculous device as well, Lady Redmane, so that there will be at least two who are capable of using it." He moves to stand by the senior knight's side.

Redmane demonstrates to Lefallon how to focus the eye of the device before triggering it. "There is a magic word that is sometimes invoked, but it is not actually necessary," she adds.

The princess inclines her head to her knight's request and turns to face the device and assume a more regal pose -- one that doesn't involve her huddling under her warm cloak and away from the winds. "Very well, it will be so. Sir Lefallon? I trust you are capable. Lady Redmane, I know you are," she says. She then glances around and upon finding Lady Raven asks, "I know it would be difficult on you, circumstances considered, but it is necessary one of us take on a glamour. I could try if you would decline, but you are best suited, I think?"

Sir Lefallon nods as he listens. "It sounds foreign, this word, 'Seychies', but perhaps that is appropriate for things of arcane origin. I thank God that I know that it is not of profane origin, for no good knight would traffic in such things, milady." He holds his hands out to be given the device so that he can test what he has been shown.

Lady Raven nods, looking serious, to the princess. "Very well. I shall work a glamour for the test." She straightens to her full height, and suddenly seems taller -- much taller. Her figure appears strong, warrior-like, and her complexion turns dark. Antlers crown her brow, and she lifts her chin, gazing skyward. "Will this suffice?" she asks, her voice solid and regal.

Redmane hands the Optikon to her fellow knight.

The small lizard who'd been startled off the elevator ropes seems to have crept about halfway out again, into a patch of sunlight to warm itself. The sudden difference in Lady Raven's appearance causes it surrender its patch of sunlight, and it flees back around the winch.

"Ye Spirits!" Redmane exclaims upon witnessing the transformation of Lady Raven into some strange horned beast.

As Sir Lefallon reaches out to accept the Optikon, he stumbles at the sight of Lady Raven, transformed. "By the Word of God, how have we been visited--" His hands fumble the grasping of the camera.

Thomas watches Lady Raven in awe. "There are times I wish I had learned of magic when I was younger. It still amazes me to see it in effect," he says under his breath. His attention then shifts to the lizard and his brow furrows. "Could it be spying? Perhaps," he thinks.

Angel looks up, and up, and then levels her gaze again and nods with slightly unsettled approval. "Y-yes ... that will do," she answers. "Though I do believe you appear much more amiable in the norm."

Moving quickly, Redmane snatches the precious Optikon before it can drop to the floor. "Sir Lefallon, you must be more careful!"

The younger knight looks abashed. "My humble apologies, Lady Redmane. I was so startled by..." He peers closer, noticing which of their group is missing. "... Lady Raven's transformation, that I was about to go for my sword in the Princess's defense. It is by God's grace that the miraculous device has been saved."

The horned woman starts towards the princess and the explorer, as they stand by the crenellations, then twists at the byplay with the Optikon, gasping. "My apologies, Sir Lefallon. I did not mean to unsettle you so," she says, her voice deep but not unmelodious. She takes her place with the other two, and waits.

"Concentrate, Sir Lefallon," Thomas says slowly, watching Lady Raven approach. "The glamour doesn't always fully affect a focused mind. From what I see, I see both Lady Raven and this new form of hers in the same place, blurred together."

"Perhaps I should use the device first," Redmane says, and focuses the Optikon on the rest of the group. Once she is satisfied, there is an audible click from the device, and the knight lowers it to turn a little dial while watching a tiny window.

"Tell me, is that glamour but a choice of mere random fancy? Or does it possess a deeper meaning?" inquires the princess as she moves to make room for Elinor. As she does so she gives the horned woman a sidelong glance, smiling slightly, and blinking as if still quite intrigued with the illusion.

"It seems entirely convincing to me," Sir Lefallon says, before being startled again by the click. "Why, is that all it does?"

"The very image of a faun, is it not, Lady Raven?" Redmane asks, then motions Sir Lefallon over to the group. "If you would do the honors this time, Lord Thomas, I will take my place next to the others."

"It is the natural form for Lord October. His handmaidens are of this shape, as well -- the most trusted of his people," Lady Raven answers. She leans against the wall. "I settled upon it for that reason, I imagine ... and because it is so little like to my own self."

The younger knight looks apprehensive about this new experience, but moves over as directed. He holds his shield up, displaying the device of a rabbit, and stands next to the Lady Redmane in a teacher-student sort of arrangement.

The princess inclines her head again. "Interesting. Thank you, Lady Raven. I will have to remember that."

"Since the first test is done, I shall let the guise fall," Raven says, sighing a little as the image slides from her, dissipating into the warm air like mist. "Let the next be of me as I truly am."

Thomas steps away from the group and accepts the Optikon with care. "Of course, Redmane," he replies and turns to face the group. He waits for Redmane to join with the group. Once she does, he gazes through the lens of the Optikon, shifting this way and that until he's satisfied. Another click echoes in the room and he lowers the device. Carefully, he turns the knob like he saw Lady Redmane do.

"If this proves to be a true Optikon, then it may be worthwhile to quest for one which reveals its results immediately," Redmane says, hoping that the device does work.

"Such a device exists?" Sir Lefallon says, breaking from his pose with apparent marvel that the experience was so painless.

The explorer walks over to Redmane and holds out the Optikon. "Thank you, Knight Redmane. It is, indeed, simple to operate. We'll leave it in your capable hands, of course," he says.

"That would be a marvel beyond words," Lady Raven remarks. "'Tis hard to believe such a device might exist, much less that it could fall into our hands. Yet I hope it may be so." She walks towards the elevator again.

"Aye," the larger knight says. "It is far rarer, and made by a more potent mage however," she explains as she packs the device away once more.

A small, beady black eye protruding slightly from greyish skin peeps from around a brick and mortar corner of the fortress now that Lady Raven's guise has faded. The reptile warily eyes Lady Raven first, then wistfully the small bit of warm sunlight creeping across the castle stones.

Sir Lefallon smiles. "Undoubtedly it will be an arduous quest, but if I am able, I hope that you will allow me to aid you on that journey, Lady Redmane."

"I have heard such Optikons are of great value, and closely guarded by those blessed enough to possess one." With the air of one quite used to standing posed for long periods of time, the princess stands tall with her head raised and her hands folded delicately before her. When she speaks she is conservative in her movement. "Oh, and Lady Raven, such glamours are not the product of magic as I am aware of it. Am I correct in assuming it is a form of ... natural magic?"

"Well, shall we be off then, my friends?" Thomas says, walking toward the elevator. "It is best to travel the forest during the day. The night harbors other ... monsters."

Raven nods, taking a seat on the elevator. "I am ready."

Angel joins the others on the elevator and takes a seat near Lady Raven. "Quite ready," she chimes in.

Previous Log: Optikons and Wolves	Next Log: Icejaw Pit

Thread Links
	Previous Log: Optikons and Wolves Next Log: Icejaw Pit		Previous Log: Safe at the Manor Next Log: Icejaw Pit
	Previous Log: About House October Next Log: Icejaw Pit		Previous Log: About House October Next Log: Icejaw Pit
	Previous Log: Sir Lefallon Next Log: Icejaw Pit		Previous Log: Optikons and Wolves Next Log: Icejaw Pit
	Previous Log: About House October Next Log: Icejaw Pit

---

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.