Spring. Greater London.
Mr. Blake had followed employment's calling and was taking a business trip to Scotland. Lok judged his son's height and then pulled a leather thong from around his own neck and handed it to Po. Thereon dangled a seriously weathered coin with a square hole in the center, typical of Chinese minting. He said, "I am de-Lok and you will come to understand that now that you are old enough. You will be traveling to Tibet; I must go with Blake-san."
Po: "De-Lok? Is my name not Lok Yuen-Po?"
Lok: "You do not yet understand. You are Lok Yuen-Po."
Po, still somewhat troubled and resistant: "Ah, you are de-Lok and I must find out what that is. Hopefully I will see you in the not-too-distant future."
Lok walked away to join his employer, his back very stiff. An observant Blake might have noticed a tear in the old man's eye. [Several Players remarked on the unlikelihood of finding an observant Blake.:)]
Acceptances to the invitations poured into Dufferin House. There were, however, several cables of note. Miss Courtney wrote regretfully that she had already committed herself to a conflicting assignment into the African interior. Mr. Smith too, found himself dealing with an emergency on Lord Franks' estate (although his lordship may well have made it to the event. :)) The very last cable came from Mr. Blake, wiring congratulations and best wishes although a train derailment meant that he would not reach London in time for the ceremony.
A tanned young man with a shock of sun-bleached hair chose a lovely spring day to visit the Kew Gardens, part of the Royal Botanic Gardens and part of Her Majesty's palace in Kew. He made inquiries at the gate for Sir Joseph Hooker, director emeritus of Kew Gardens, and was directed to the "Old Grove". As he approached he could see that tents had been erected outside the circle of ancient oaks. The tents covered the reception area where servants and footmen waited silently. There was a wedding ceremony being performed within the Grove itself, with the trees for the canopy and dappled sunlight for lighting. Sir William was one of the wedding guests. The newcomer inserted himself amongst those observing the event from the back of Grove. It was clearly a wedding of some importance - if only because it was being celebrated in a Royal Grove - but, as well, because the officiant was easily recognizable as the Arch-Druid of Canterbury[an old friend of the bride's father]. The groom's side claimed various notables, lords and ambassadors, and a goodly sprinkling of military officers. On the bride's side sat a large number of people in druidic vestments. At the outside end of one bench of rather unique characters sat an actual mechanical man!
The Father of the Bride, an elderly druid, was clearly radiantly happy, and had already sampled no small amount of the sacramental wine. Seated next to him was a druidess too young to be the bride's mother.
The Arch-Druid had no need to be brief and seemed intent on making sure that the young couple before him were well and truly (and at great length) married. As the ceremony neared its end (he hoped), the young blond man was distracted by the sound of horses galloping. Horses? In a Royal Garden? As a troop of Mongol horsemen brandishing scimitars emerged - slowed somewhat by the impeding trees - the young man managed to squeak out, "Look out! Horses!" His voice was swallowed up in the hubbub as others noticed too.
Miss Costorari leaned over to a Chinese boy dressed in maroon velvet, "Po, your friends are here." The lead horsemen seemed intent on crashing into the bride's side of the assembly. Penrington, in an aisle seat, stood and threw his chair at the foremost rider. Po, too, stood and cast a spell that caused a blinding white light and a mystic "ohm-m-m" sound. Darkness appeared in the midst of the horse troops. Steele shot his grapple into the horseman on the front left edge of the darkness field; his hook became lodged in his target's furred armor. Forester, who had been photographing the ceremony, turned and aimed his camera in front of the line of horsemen emerging from the darkness; a wall of blue radiance appeared between them and the wedding guests.
The Radiation Wall produced an odd effect on the grapple cable that appeared to go through it. As the fouled horseman continued to move towards the bride and groom, Mr. Steele was pulled into the wall. A second horseman ran Mr. Forester down, slicing him with a sword as his trained horse stomped the photographer [35, 12; 6,18]. The Radiation Wall fell, leaving Steele facing three armed Mongols. Other horsemen turned somewhat to the right of the Field of Darkness and plunged into the seating area of the wedding guests. Guests started to panic and flee.
Penrington raced down the aisle towards the bride and groom. Po vaulted over various guests, getting leverage off an elderly druid, to kick a Mongol in the chest. Voronika tried to work her way past fleeing guests towards Steele and Po. The blond young man grabbed an improvised club and started to move in that direction as well.
Po's target used superb horsemanship to maneuver the Chinese boy towards incoming horsemen, one of which aimed a spherical object at Po. A flash went off around the boy who fell stunned into the first horseman's arms. Voronika leaped and grabbed Po as well, shouting, "Mr. Steele, h-e-l-p!"
Turning from the Arch-Druid, the groom threw a holy censor at an on-coming Mongol. The bride, too, made a mesmeric attack, stunning another. Voronika took a sword blow and fell to the ground. The blond stranger, too, was struck to the ground. The military men, free of panicked guests and now organized and armed, moved from their side of the tent towards the carnage. Penrington moved swiftly to the nearest horseman, dodged under his sword, and managed to grab the rider and haul him from his saddle and onto the ground in a grip even Mr. Steele would have had difficulty escaping from.
Steele took attacks from all three of his opponents and one of their horses but remained standing, barely. Lord Ava, hefting a ceremonial candlestick, aided Penrington in subduing his captive.
A bolt of lightning from the sky disintegrated the stunned horseman as the Arch-Druid, having completed the wedding ritual, brought his powers to bear. The Father of the Bride shouted, "Not at my daughter's wedding!" Then his voice segued into the words of a strange and powerful language. The druidess next to him moved to Forester's side where she used a healing spell on him.
Suddenly, looming over the trees, the shocked wedding party could see a huge apparition: a Mongol warrior of crueler mien even than the horsemen currently rioting in the tent. The air felt distinctly cooler, as though a chill from the north blew down with the giant. Just as suddenly a huge vision of a woman attired in helmet, robes, and sword appeared over the Grove. All within sight stood agog as Britannia swung at the Mongol apparition. More lightning bolts crashed from the sky as the Cossack image collapsed. [The chronicler acknowledges that the voice stating "This grove is SAFE" may have been a meta-comment by the GM.]
In near panic, the horsemen wheeled to leave. Voronika stood and threw her parasol at Po's captor; it bounced off his armor. Suddenly Po felt his captor release him; he found himself floating in mid-air, suffused by a blue glow: the hand of Britannia. A glowing sword sliced through an entire rank of horsemen. A green glow like a blanket spread over the people and artifacts of the damaged wedding site: wounds closed, broken chairs repaired themselves and moved into order as riderless horses were firmly and gently shoved by the glow out of the Grove.
The Father of the Bride speaking in deep reverberating tones not his own, pointed at the tall, blond druidess kneeling next to Forester (who was stammering his thanks):
"The Shattered
Temujin in Bardo
Reflects itself
comes to be one.
in order to be one.
The Doom of the Moon now passes,
From younger to Elder,
From Moon to Sun.
Accept the Mantle. La.
You shall go and come back again,
Ere you find the Mountain with his Head in the Clouds,
On your way to the Valley of Time.
Leave your resentment. Sok.
Lu and Wangthang and Lungta.
Those you bring with you,
Those you seek.
Mustang Horse."
Then the druid swiveled and his finger pointed at Po. The strange poetry continued:
"At this time the great red wind of evolution will drive you from behind, fiercely, unbearably, terrifyingly. Do not be afraid of it! It is your own hallucination! A frightening thick darkness draws you from the from, irresistibly. You are terrified by harsh cries, such as "strike!" "kill!" Do not be afraid of them! Heavy sinners will see cannibal ogres brandishing many weapons, shouting war cries, "Kill, Kill!" and "Strike! Strike!" You will see ferocious wild animals. You will be hunted by troops in blizzards, storms, and fogs. You will hear sounds of avalanches, flood waters, forest fires, and hurricanes. In panic, you will escape by any means, only to stop short on the brink of falling down a yawning triple abyss, red, black, and white, bottomless and horrifying."
Then the druid's voice stopped and, beaming, he resumed his seat, looking at the bride and groom expectantly. Voronika turned to Po, "I tried to hang on to you. I'm sorry." Po answered, "You probably shouldn't have tried." Then, as the great figure of Britannia began to fade away, the Chinese boy called out his thanks to the image. Steele turned to the gypsy, "Did you see that too?" Voronika asked archly, "See what?" and then she laughed, clearly aware of the joke.
The musicians launched into the Recessional and the wedding celebration resumed undaunted by the unusual events. Voronika found herself wondering what the society columns would write about Lord and Lady Ava's nuptials.
At the reception, all made merry. Voronika thanked the Arch-Druid who responded, "This is a place where all are protected. Those who violated it did not understand the power of Anglia." She and Po searched the area outside the tents but found no orb, no swords, no bodies. Even the grass seemed undisturbed. Penrington's captive was, quietly, turned over to the police who, quietly so not to disturb the celebration, also took in hand the horses.
Po spoke to the Father of the Bride, Brother Oak, "Do you remember the great Mongol in the sky while you were manifesting Britannia?"
The old druid looked concerned, "Are you feeling well, son? Perhaps you will feel better if you sit down."
Feeling himself answered, Po tried to excuse himself.
Brother Oak responded jovially, "We're glad you could come. I'm sure she'll invite you to the chrysaning."
Overhearing that remark, Mr. Steele wondered, 'Chrysaning? Is that merely a prediction (which druids are apparently adept at), or have Lord and Lady Ava been doing things out of sequence?' However, being a gentleman at heart, he immediately banished the indelicate thought.
Mr. Forester, who had been trying to find out the name of the 'angel' who had healed him, stopped to speak with the bride. Madeline was happy to make introductions. "Emily, this is Mr. Forester of whom I have written, from our most recent expedition. Mr. Forester, this is my elder sister, Sister Sunshine." As the two women stood together, Forester could see the family resemblance although the older girl was taller - as tall as the average man - and very beautiful. Although, by definition, no one is more beautiful than a bride at her own wedding, it is possible that some few - under other circumstances - might prefer the pre-Raphaelite style affected by many druids (hair worn loose to her knees and white and willow-green robes) rather than the elegant corseted fashions of noble ladies. Over glasses of lemonade the druidess and pedagogue engaged in a shy discussion on photography and frankincense.
Lord Dufferin, Father of the Groom, complimented Penrington on his moves in the recent melee. "Very gutsy. I'd like to shake your hand." Penrington tried not to show that he was pleased at having impressed the current Ambassador to Italy and Sponsor of his most recent expedition. Lord Dufferin also made a point of singling out Steele for having fought 3-5 horsemen all at once. Penrington surveyed the crowd, having noticed at one point the Messrs. Able and Baker had been seated on the groom's side. However, in the press, he did not intrude on them.
Penrington, who had also noticed the blond stranger get into melee, then made his way towards the young man in order to offer thanks on behalf of the wedding party. He caught up while the stranger, clearly an outdoors type, was showing Sir Joseph Hooker a small wooden wheel spoke similar to that the Party had found hidden in Timbuktu. Sir Joseph brought it to the attention of his assistant and son-in-law Sir William Thislton-Dyer who said something about "from a broad leaf tropical, similar to what Lady Ava once brought...." Penrington watched the young man acknowledge the Directors and then turn towards the bride. After watching several false starts at reaching that particular target, Penrington intruded heartily, "Thank you for your help fighting those Mongols."
The young man answered with a diffident smile, "I wouldn't have put it that way, although that was my intent."
Penrington: "Allow me to introduce myself. Arvey Penrington, at your service, sir."
With a nod, "Maxwell Ramsey, at yours."
Penrington: "You look like a man who travels a lot," and, suddenly, the hunter realized that he'd heard the name before. Mr. Ramsey was one of the youngest members of the Society for Geographic and Foreign Studies, a brash Egyptologist who tended to use words like 'looter' towards some of the more senior archeologists in his field. "You're out of Egypt, aren't you?"
Ramsey: "I grew up there, but I'm Anglish."
Penrington: "Of course, of course. You have an odd piece of sandalwood there, I noticed."
Ramsey: "Yes. I understand that Lady Ava has some like it."
Penrington: "Would you like an introduction?"
Introductions were quickly made. Lady Ava [the former Dr. Davis] was pleased to acquaint Mr. Ramsey with the other members of the Timbuktu expedition, particularly Miss Costorari, the current custodian of a piece of ancient prayer wheel made out of fresh sandalwood. Lady Ava was particularly intrigued with the snake symbol on Ramsey's artifact, where - on the Party's - had been a ram symbol. Still - with barely a touch of regret - she told Voronika softly, "I must leave this adventure up to you now" as she turned her happy face back towards her newly-wedded husband. The group drew Ramsey into their discussion.
Po to Ramsey: "How quickly can you be ready to travel?"
Ramsey, managing to get his open mouth back into position to speak: "Well, I just got to London."
Po, nodding with satisfaction: "Good. Then you've not even unpacked."
As the conversation continued and Forester brought Sunshine into it, Ramsey realized that he recognized some of the names being tossed around. He spoke up, "Dr. Davis? Do you know Dr. Davis?"
Costorari, in simple surprise: "Yes. She's now Lady Ava."
Ramsey, in some excitement: "Is Mr. Blake here, then? I've read their papers on the Timbuktu Expedition!"
The others explained how train trouble had prevented Blake's attendance at the wedding. Penrington invited the young Egyptologist to join the group at their boarding house for a more thorough discussion of their proposed next expedition, assuring him that his bit of sandalwood guaranteed him a place therewith.
Sunshine had memorized the Old One's prediction. The group agreed that the Mantle passing from younger to elder did, indeed, seem to mean that the druidess should take over Dr. Davis' responsibility for Dark Moon. Thus it didn't seem out of place for her to have Dr. Davis' place amongst this set of adventurers. What the rest of it meant, no one had much idea. Po stated that Temujin was a Mongol ruler some 850 years ago, a "significant conqueror in Asia." He also thought that one or two of the names in the prophecy might be those of Chinese dragons, but he wasn't sure. As it seemed likely that the Search for Tibet would include some traveling in China, Po offered to teach any who wanted Mandarin. Ramsey indicated an interest in languages, commenting that he knew a bit of Persian. Mr. Forester, Sister Sunshine and Miss Costorari agreed that they'd like to study Po's language.
Examination of the two pieces of sandalwood wheel indicated that there might be 12 roughly equal pieces of that wheel. Po noted that there were 12 symbols in the Chinese zodiac, including both the ram and the snake. He also knew that 1888 was the Year of the Rat in China. Po said that a prayer was written down, then placed in the prayer wheel; when the wheel was spun, each rotation was counted as an iteration of the prayer. A very efficient way of praying to the Old Ones. In addition to the sandalwood - both of which "registered" on the gypsy's powers as being incredibly ancient despite the freshness of their scents - Miss Costorari examined Po's coin. She reported that, despite its worn appearance, experience-wise, it "registered" as no older than 3-5 days. This seemed inexplicable, save that Po had first touched the coin within that time scale. [Note: I believe that neither radiologist nor druid has yet examined these artifacts for "magic".]
Mr. Ramsey was able to produce the box and wrapper in which his prayer wheel piece had arrived. The box had been severely damaged in transit. The address was simply "Maxwell Ramsey, Egypt." The stamps indicated that it had been sent to Anglia from Rangoon, a place Miss Costorari was able to say was in "Burma". It was a stopover for airships going to Hong Kong. The package had additionally included only a dilapidated calling card of one Joseph Dagerall, a man Ramsey had worked with for a short time on an Egyptian dig. On the back of the card had been written three £ signs. Ramsey had no idea why Dagerall had sent him the package or even how it had been delivered to his London hotel, albeit his colleagues in Egypt knew he'd come to London.
Recognizing that they still needed to find a sponsor for an expedition to Tibet and they still needed far more information before starting out, the group noted sources of which they were aware:
Miss Costorari volunteered to check the Museum Map Room but found nothing on "Tibet". She did note that India's northern border seems to be impossible-to-cross mountains. The southern Chinese border was also mountains.
Mr. Forester went to the University to question Prof. Thomas Francis Wade, first professor of the Chinese language. He had written all the seminal papers in Anglish on the linguistic culture of the Yellow River.
Forester: "Would the University be interested in an expedition to western China?"
Prof. Wade, cautiously: "The University would be interested in having an opportunity to publish a paper on such an endeavor. I understand that there is a small branch of the University in Hong Kong or Kowloon." The professor recognized that the trade in current artifacts was lucrative; "many would be willing to import." But he did not believe that entailed any serious scholarship. China, he noted regretfully, was not "exotic" enough. It has been inhabited for centuries and the Chinese kept good records. "Of course one would need to read Chinese...."
Penrington offered to hang out at the Society to see what he could learn about Tibet and potential sponsors.
Sister Sunshine offered to make inquires at import shops in London.
Miss Costorari declared an intent to check the Museum Reading Room for mention of the various names and places from the Prophecy.
Next Run: Need More Information. Need a Sponsor.
(a) Cumulative (b) Cumulative since Volume II (c) Cumulative since Volume III
The contents of this site are copyright 2004 Sheryl A. Knowles unless otherwise specified. All rights reserved.