[Notes for the run of January 13, 2000.] During the night, Rhori visits both the White Church and the Rainbow Church to pray to whatever god(s) might be appropriate and let them know that he forgives his father. The next morning, though, he says he's still undecided what to say to Justice. There's also some discussion about getting Rhori an introduction to Cordelia and/or Lorraine (the latter of whom I thought already knew him), but nobody clued me in until much later so I didn't try to capture what was said. We plan to spend a day or two with some people researching Temperance, journeys, the journeying elves, and whether it's possible to get into Tarot via the Kelli elves' tree. We're also interested in the current state of Baron duBois's town. (Apparently, part of the news we were told in last week's run was that some adventurers had cleaned it out, and they found a portal to a place full of earth-type creatures. I vaguely remembered hearing the plane of earth get mentioned last week, but it didn't make it into the notes, and nobody added it.) Alexis asks Anton if he's figured out yet which card she is. He thinks a bit, and concludes she's the Six of Staves. No mention is made of what that card signifies. Paris goes to the Rainbow Church to deliver Mia's message to Henri. The rest of us tag along as part of our in-town blancmange. We find Pyotr, who was kept up all night talking to people. He's had a bath, thank goodness, and has a fresh set of robes that fit a bit better than the loaner from Mia. (They're too long and big instead of too short, but these at least he can hope to fill out into as he regains his health.) Paris realises he'll never get any sleep if he stays at the church, so she invites him to crash in our quarters. He goes off to get some sleep. Rhori takes Anton aside and again asks about meeting Lorraine, but I still don't know what it's about. (And trying to understand Rhori's conversations is hard enough when I _do_ know what's being discussed, so it again went unrecorded.) Anton ends up suggesting Rhori talk to Paris about it. Most of us end up at the palace. Alexis and Anton head for the library. Calais checks in with Irolo, and Lucas checks in with the Padre. Irolo is working on an odd wooden apparatus: a set of three steps for supporting ranks of archers, that can be collapsed flat to allow cavalry to ride over. Paris takes Rhori to see Lorraine. Hobbes tags along. The page escorting them looks a bit nervous about that, and indeed, the guards in that wing aren't as used to lions as in other parts of the palace, and ask if Hobbes is dangerous. Paris starts to explain, but Rhori answers faster, "Sure he is! Aren't you, big guy?" He ruffles Hobbes's mane, and they quickly get into a friendly tussle. (At one point Hobbes says to Rhori, "Isn't that Lorraine down there?" and when Rhori turns to look, Hobbes leaps on him.) Eventually Paris manages to tell the guards that the lion isn't dangerous unless Rhori tells him to be, and Rhori is Silverlocke's man. The guards accept this, and allow them to go on and find Lorraine. (Rhori asks Paris if she should've said Prince Martin instead of Silverlocke. She waves that off.) Lorraine has apparently heard a lot about Hobbes, and is please to meet him at last. Rhori suggests that if she's willing to scratch his tummy she'll be his friend for life, but Lorraine has heard from the Princess that Hobbes really likes being scritched behind his ears, and Hobbes is soon a puddle on the floor. He's disappointed to learn that Lorraine isn't "one of Rhori's". Paris asks Rhori what he wanted to say to Lorraine, and Rhori squirms a bit. Paris takes the hint and, after checking that there are enough servants about to maintain the proprieties, leaves the two to talk. [This time, after the conversation (which I once again mostly ignored for lack of context), I got clued in as to what it was about, so I then hastily tried to remember what had been said. Here's the gist.] Rhori says, "My dad always told me I was too ugly and too stupid to ever meet a girl. Which is more important, ugly or stupid?" Lorraine responds with an abbreviated version of the Frog Prince fairy tale. She concludes "You'll find someone, Rhori." She leans way up, kisses him on the cheek, then backs away again and repeats, "You'll find someone." Alas, the metaphor is way too deep for poor Rhori, who thanks her politely, but outside tells Paris that it didn't help him any. Alexis and Anton find a young lad with a big pile of books, looking rather frenzied. Alexis greets him as Rodrigo, and asks what's going on. He explains that he's been assigned to do an inventory. About 3-4 weeks ago, the Duke sent some of the books from his original (pre-change) library down to be filed with the rest, and some now appear to be missing. In particular, he can't find two books from the chronicles of Duke Evan's great-grandfather, from when he founded Westmore about 80 years ago. They offer to help Rodrigo by finishing the inventory of this pile while he inventories other books still on the shelves. They find other stuff from the great-grandfather's era, and find various official records like deeding of lands, awarding of honors, etc. But Anton notices that there are no "tales", such as describing the deeds that led to people getting those honors. He notices, for instance, that there's no record of the deLacey rape case. It's common knowledge that the founding Duke took the land by conquering the barbarians already living here, who were called Tulus, and the Tulus were made slaves for a time. But again, there are no stories of the battles, nor any mention of what became of the enslaved Tulus. Alexis tries to follow them forward in later records, but within a generation they get muddled with the records of indentured servants. As long as they're looking at historical stuff, Anton is curious about the founding of Jouet. They look further forward. Baron duBois founded his town around the end of the great-grandfather's reign. He in turn suggested founding a village in the good farming land further west; that was about 50-60 years ago. The original inhabitants -- or at least their professions, such as Miller -- are recorded. All were freemen. Rodrigo comes back, having finished searching the shelves for the missing books, without success. The three of them go and talk to the librarian. The librarian at first chastises Rodrigo for getting Anton and Alexis to do his chore, but Alexis assures him they offered to help, unasked. Rodrigo heads off as they continue to chat with the librarian, asking who might've wanted to take those books. There's no sign-out sheet for them, since they aren't much in demand. There's a fellow who comes in occasionally and makes a complete list of the books available; his name's Brillig. Alexis notes that if we check his lists, we can at least narrow down the date when the books vanished. Alas, Brillig is in seclusion somewhere at the moment. They ask the librarian about the two missing books. Since the Duke's original library was rather small compared to its current state, the librarian had ample time to read all the books in it. These particular books were written by a Friar Gerald, who spent a lot of time talking to the natives, recording their stories, etc. Presumably there are copies, like at Pelier and Vatica, but neither of those libraries is readily accessible at the moment. The librarian tries to remember the gist of some of the tales. The Tulus' legends said they were once a great people. They had a city covered in gold, and so forth. (Anton recognises the usual story trappings.) A priest's cup figured in many of the legends, a gold cup, set with emeralds. It conferred great wisdom, and was some sort of restorative as well. Still hoping to get a lead on who might've taken the books, Anton asks the librarian if he's noticed anyone odd around the library. The librarian gives Anton a funny look and turns his gaze out across the library. As usual, it is currently occupied by several self-styled magicians, some complete with pointy hats and robes covered with moons and stars. They proceed to their planned research. There are lots of stories about journeys, of course. The story of retaking duBois gives insights about fighting earth creatures. Gargoyles can apparently see in the dark, as well as see invisible things. Alexis notices Anton gets a funny look at that part, and he explains that he did some invisible scouting when we passed by there a long time ago; fortunately he didn't get close enough to get their attention. Gargoyles are also very hard to hurt (armor piercing helps). Then there were kobolds, and something big and tough in the main room, guarding a hole that led to a place with lots more gargoyles and kobolds and such. They exfiltrated, managing to destroy the portal before anything big came through. There was no sign of the Baron or his family. They found no rubies (fist-sized or otherwise), but lots of other treasure, including several small blue sapphires, and lots of silver cards. There are no clues to Temperance, and nobody else seems to have met the Corustran elves (the travelling clan). Anton checks whether any other groups have found Major Arcana. They have, but only Arcana we too have met. Many groups have reported the Fool and the Magician (including a few who found him somewhere far to the north). Some have found the High Priestess, and a few have met the Empress. Those few also turned up in the group that cleaned out the duBois estate. Lorraine is having a farewell party for her good friend Lady Cordelia Givance, who will be travelling with her brother Rodric back to Pelier in the lava track vehicle. Sir Ewen, Sir Paris, and Jules Chivar are also present, along with the senior Gryphons. A familiar bard is providing some of the entertainment by telling the tale of the battle of Pelier. Anton tells the tale well, emphasising the blood and glory (as Paris had suggested when he asked her which version to perform). Lady Gryphon has a stiff expression, with her cheeks sucked in and both eyebrows at full extension. Sir Gryphon loves the tale; it's a rouser. Sir Ewen looks particularly on edge, especially during the part about Paris facing the Dread. Lorraine takes particular pride in Jules's part (whatever it was; do the PCs -- except Paris -- even know?). Anton is particularly interested in Cordelia's reaction. Her eyes are bright, her cheeks are flushed; she is apparently fascinated by the story (or, he hopes, by the storyteller?). To be continued in email. Calais swings by the adventurer's guild and checks the bulletin boards to see what magic items are available for sale or trade. There are 4 or 5 magic shields listed: +1 compared to the usual defense. There are some offers of armor-piercing arrows, and there are people willing to trade cards for gold. Nothing really exciting; maybe the Mage Emporium will have more to offer. Paris raises the question of whether we should buy our own horses (those of us who don't already have them). Up till now, Prince William was supplying such things, but he's not here now. Since it would cost us most of our money (we have about a gold each, and a horse costs about half a gold before adding in related gear), we're not enthused; if the Duke doesn't want to loan us horses, we can walk. Alexis, with her political knowledge, knows that the Duke might well be willing to provide horses, but he would need some sort of excuse to justify it. Apparently none of us are feeling creative enough to concoct one. Over at the magic emporium, there are some wands for sale, and some herbs the mages haven't heard of before, that provide temporary aid to one's magic skill. When Anton hears of this, he rushes over, and together he and Calais manage to find a source that doesn't rip us off. We buy six doses for 2 silver; each dose is +2 magic skill for all spells for a minute, or for one spell as long as the casting starting within that minute. Alexis looks into locating someone who helped reclaim duBois. She finds out that one of them, the storyteller of that group, shows up each evening at one of the higher class taverns, where he tells the tale in return for food and drink. Alexis asks the innkeeper about him, and is told he's rather a handsome fellow. She asks if the tale hasn't grown stale, and the innkeeper says there are always more people who want to hear it, so it keeps bringing in customers, which is fine with him. Rhori, having made his decision, is taken back to face Justice. Justice shows him the scales, which are now balanced because there's a rolled up scroll on one of the pans. "Take this to the High Priestess. She will take care of the rest." Alexis and Anton tell us what they found out at the library. They start by telling of the two books that, as Alexis puts it, "Have been misplaced, for lack of any proof of anything more deliberate." Calais sighs resignedly, "All right, let me check." But no, they're not in his pack. They go on to tell about the great-grandDuke's time, and the barbarian Tulus. This perks up Pyotr, who asks if we mean Toulouse. He explains, "Kingdom of Toulouse is next kingdom inland from Bolon. Home of great university, place of teaching." Anton muses a bit about what might've become of the Toulouse of Pyotr's time, and wonders whether there might be ruins found beneath Westmore, or beneath "Old Westmore" (now at the site of Paris), etc. Calais points out that what with cities swapping places, thousands of years going by, not to mention the World being destroyed, it's not clear there's anything left to be found. Alexis goes to the inn to hear the rakishly handsome storyteller, and is part of the group that contributes for his meal. He sings quite well. Afterward he goes over to talk to her, since he "always makes it a point to speak to the prettiest woman present." He's sufficiently charming that Alexis doesn't retch. :-) His name is Emile Zapata. Alexis, taking something of a dislike to the fellow, tries to tweak him about various things, and as a result is outmaneuvered a bit in the conversation and almost lets slip about the missing "priest cup" stories. Realising the path the conversation has taken, she attempts to divert him by making it seem as though she was referring to the Archpriest's cup. Zapata is definitely full of himself and his party. He says there are problems to be solved, that won't be solved unless he and his friends go out and solve them. All in all, they sound a lot like us. (Maybe Pat has a second group of characters he's running with another set of players? :-) We talk to Pyotr about joining us, since his healing and knowledge of the gods will both be useful, and since we expect we'll be dropping in on Bolon. He says he knows only four spells: a small heal, the Glorious Revitalization Amen, the PD/ED blessing, and a Presence blessing; his mother felt that spells were not as important as one's Ritual skill. He mentions some of the many rituals he knows about. Pyotr is interested in accompanying us, but points out that he's still rather weak, and has no equipment of his own (not that he could carry much yet anyway). We offer to equip him, and purchase some "3 & 2" armor (six kilos) for 6 silvers, a shortsword for 3 more, and small shield for 1. We also get him a set of rainbow pajamas. Calais also gets various other standard equipment, including rope, provisions, and cloaks and other foul-weather gear. Paris sends word to Lucas that the Party is continuing the quest for the Major Arcana / gods, and tells him when we hope to set out. [Back in time, it appears we'll be staying longer, to wait for various armor repairs.] Pyotr performs a ritual for starting out on a journey, and off we go. We get to duBois, and Hobbes reports the scent of Fell. Rhori checks for tracks, and determines the place is crisscrossed by occasional bands of 3 to 30 orcs, sometimes with wolves (rarely more than one per band). Hobbes follows one trail for an hour or so while we set up camp, but he doesn't catch up to anything. Anton checks the area. The walls show traces of powerful magic having been cast on them, but there's nothing still active. We discuss a bit about what intra-party training we want to set up for this trip. It appears that Alexis will teach High Society (aka Courtly Graces) for a week, giving anyone who wants it an 8 or less roll (and Anton, who has an 8-, can add a card for a full PRE-based roll). Calais or Paris could teach armor levels; Calais would like to learn High Society, but Paris (who doesn't need that class) could teach armor at the same time if there's anybody else who'd rather learn armor levels. If not that week, then she could still teach it later. (Note: Pyotr has no cards, so for him to learn an armor level would take six weeks, though we might hope he can earn some cards before then.) Calais would like to learn some sword levels from anyone who can teach them.