[Notes for the run of January 27, 2000.]

[Let me start by saying that this run was almost pure information (not
even much soap opera :-), and I'm sure I wasn't able to keep up with it
all.  Please fill in anything you can think of that I overlooked.]

[Addendum: I _still_ got almost no input from other players.  Sigh...]

We head for the elves, resisting the temptation to track down every orc or
wolf whose path we happen to cross.  The elves greet Rhori and Hobbes with
the traditional salutation ("Do you want us to kill the people following
you?"), and lead us into their forest.

Rhori can't remember why we came to the elves, but knows Paris wanted to ask
something.  Paris asks whether we can go via the tree to get into Tarot.
The elves we're talking to say that's a question for the Queen.  So we're
invited to the evening feast, and then we get to talk to the Queen.  She
says yes, of course we can use the tree.  Paris also asks if we can leave
our horses with the elves.  The Queen seems surprised that our horses can't
climb trees, but yes, we can leave them.

We sleep well, and in the morning they lead us to the tree.  Though we
thought we were starting at ground level, we somehow climb down the tree and
come out on some bright green grass, with two iron fences converging on
either side of the tree.  Lucas examines the fences with interest, since
he's read about them in the party records.

It is dawn here, and we expect it will stay dawn.  We hurry along.  We come
to a gate on the right, with two locks.  Last time, the Emperor's throne was
visible on the other side, but now we see only a rise, with grass dying out
and becoming a bit rocky.  Calais recalls that the locks have no mechanisms,
but Paris and Rhori manifest their Keys and open the gate.  We pass through
and go over the rise, and as unseen trumpets announce our arrival we find
the Emperor on his throne.  We notice that it's sunset here.

Anton blurts out, "Greetings, Emperor!"  ["Blurts", as in "speaks without
pause for thought."  Cheerfully calls out, my eye.]  Alexis and Paris
hastily make a more proper greeting.  The Emperor replies, "Welcome to Our
lands."  Rhori whispers, "Our?"  Hobbes answers, "Royal We."  (Since when
did Hobbes get so smart?)

He bids us rise and speak.  Anton asks him how he likes being Emperor.  "We
have no choice in the matter."  Anton thanks him for his help against the
Charioteer, and the Emperor apologises for the trouble caused by the
Charioteer running about in Torat, but adds that there have been times when
Torat has been happy to have the Charioteer around.  Rhori warns him to
watch out for the Charioteer, saying that he killed the previous Emperor.
The Emperor corrects him.  "The Emperor cannot die, save by Choice.  The
body in Torat can die."

Paris makes a request that, if this Emperor's body dies in Torat, can it be
arranged that the body will be laid to rest in the Tomb of the Lost King?
The Emperor thinks a bit.  "It is more complicated than simply decreeing it,
since what happens in the domain of man is complicated by those who have
Choice.  Did that answer your question?"  "Yes, it did.  I will do what I
can."

Rhori asks, "You do not have Choice?"  "I am the Emperor."  "How did the
last 'you' choose to die if he was Emperor and didn't have Choice?"  "He
fulfilled his role.  Sometimes, while doing what you must do, you die."
Rhori understands that part.  The Emperor continues, "He had to go into
Torat to try to stop the Charioteer.  And he died doing so."  "But you said
he chose to die."  The rest of us realise the source of Rhori's confusion
and correct him.  When the Emperor said earlier that he "can die by Choice",
he didn't mean that he could choose to die; he meant that "those who have
Choice" can choose to have him die.

[Afterthought here by Don.  Does this mean that there were Minor Arcana
involved in the death of the previous incarnation of the Emperor?  That
would imply there are "bad guy" Minors.  Not especially startling, I
suppose, but we've had no other evidence of their activity.  (Barry's reply:
I think the Emperor's comments are not about the death of a particular
avatar.  Pat adds: I think it was said before that the Charioteer didn't
know he had captured the Emperor.  In fact, the old man died in the work
camp at the orc city, unknown and unrecognized.  I think the Hermit said
something along those lines.  Consider also Leo.  He is no longer in the
world--a result of some Choice by at least some of the Minors, but I don't
think they are necessarily "bad guy" Minors.  Not that there might not be
some. :) ]

Calais asks where the Charioteer is now.  "He is in his domain."  Paris asks
what the Charioteer's domain is, and the Emperor's.  "Mine is the mountains
of sunset.  His is the City of War.  He guards the city."  From?  "From any
who would threaten Tarot.  There are many on the borders who would send such
armies, and both Tarot and Torat would suffer."  But he doesn't guard the
Mirror?  "No, none of the Majors may enter the base of the Tower."

"Do you know how the Mirror can be brought back together again?"  Before the
Emperor can reply, Pyotr pipes up.  (It's good to see he's picked up on the
standard party practice of not allowing questions to be answered.  He'll fit
right in!)  "Excuse please.  Magician say he know only what is?  What was.
So you have some similar thing you know?"  "I command all of the world."
"Oh, big job."  "I am the Emperor."  Rhori asks, "So when the World comes to
Torat, you'll be in command of it?"  "I rule over all those that are in
Tarot and Torat."  "And the world?  That's what you meant by world, not like
I'm thinking?"  Calais steps in and clarifies Rhori's question.  "He means
do you rule the Major Arcana called the World, or the world as in 'all there
is', or are they the same thing?"  "That is something you will need to
understand.  Understanding is Key."

Paris asks, "What is it that you can teach us to understand, your Majesty?"
"What have you learned by seeing me?  What did you learn in the throne room,
when I appeared there?"  Paris says we learned that he does command, and
that his commands hold even when there is resistance.  Rhori says, "I
learned that you aren't interested in conquering, but I guess you already
rule it all, so that's why."  The Emperor tells Rhori, "But you are
closest."  Rhori goes, "Oh, I'm sorry," and takes a step back.

Paris asks if his actions mean that he wishes to keep Tarot and Torat
separate.  "They are meant to be separate.  That is how they were
constructed to be.  Now _you_ are getting close.  I have kept them separate.
I have kept things the way they were."  Does that mean everything's okay
now?  "Not all the Major Arcana have returned."

Rhori asks the Emperor what we can do for him.  "Some of you have done much
already, others are just starting on your journeys.  You must gain
Understanding as best you can, [something or other else], and follow the
precepts of your Order."

Rhori asks if all the orcs came from here, i.e. from Tarot.  The Emperor
says that all of them can trace their origins back to Tarot, but some have
been in Torat so long that they have had children there.  Rhori tries to ask
something about this; Lucas figures out what he's trying to say, and asks if
the children of fallen orcs are also Fell.  Yes, they are.

Rhori asks about Pyotr and how Pyotr can still be alive if he's so old.  The
Emperor asks if he wants Pyotr killed?  Uh, no.  Further confusion about
Tarot/Torat time ensues.  "The laws of time are not something that you need
to understand, save past, present, and future."  We need to understand
those?  "Yes."  They are of Tarot?  "They are of both Tarot and Torat."  Is
this a past, present, or future place?  "This is Tarot."

Calais asks where we would find the Charioteer if we needed to.  We're told
that the city we saw before (Paris, where "old Westmore" is now) is the
reflection in Torat of the City of War.  Calais also asks how we can get the
Charioteer to aid us if we decide we need him, since apparently only the
Emperor can command him.  "I command him, and here in Tarot, he serves his
role well.  In Torat, he served his role well.  Those who change his role
can command him in that way."

Paris asks whether we need to meet all the Major Arcana, or whether it is
enough to bring them into the world.  "Only by meeting them all can you
understand them, and Understanding is Key."  In response to something I
missed, he adds that Rhori's key works because he has met all the Majors in
the Key of Nature.  Calais tries asking which Majors are of which Keys, and
is told that is one of the things we must Understand.  He asks specifically
if the Hierophant is of both.  "Sadly, you still have more you need to
understand."  Rhori asks if the Emperor can tell us what the Hierophant's
keys represent, but he says we should ask the Hierophant that.

Calais asks what we are defended against.  "Other... nations?  Other ways of
looking at the world.  Towers and wheels.  You will have to understand
this."  Alexis asks about Hadji of the Used Rug Emporium, who is apparently
from one of the lands beyond Torat, and how he got in if the Charioteer
guards the borders.  "He did not come in war.  There is trade between Torat
and the other lands."

We take our leave (the trumpets sound again; we still can't see from where)
and return to the gate.  It is closed again, and Paris and Rhori open it.
We continue to the Empress's gate.  We can't see her because lots of plants
have grown up.  We open that gate and go through.  It's mid-morning of a
spring day; the air is crisp and fresh as if from a recent rain, and we hear
birds singing somewhere.

We find the Empress.  She looks much as before; she reminds each of us a bit
of our respective mothers.  She greets us, remembering those who were here
before.  Rhori starts to give her the scroll he got from Justice, but we
stop him, saying that's for the High Priestess.

We thank her for her previous gifts.  She's pleased to have helped restore
the lands from the damage visited upon them.  Rhori asks if she commands the
Majors; she says she can offer advice, but not directly command them.  "The
Emperor is the only one who commands them?"  "Not the only one; each has his
role to play."

Pyotr asks if she has any healing herbs he could take.  She invites him to
pick any herbs from her "small garden".  "Jasper, please show him to the
garden and let him pick."  A lizard with a spiny fan on its back (a
miniature dimetredon) appears and leads Pyotr to an herb garden.  Pyotr
makes his knowledge of herbs amazingly well, and recognises some plants he
has only ever heard of, and some he's only ever heard rumors of.  There's an
enormous bank of the herbs that Anton recently got for aiding magic skill.
Pyotr takes some healing herbs, some restoratives, and a couple doses of the
magic-skill herbs.  As an afterthought, he also picks some catnip for
Hobbes.

While Pyotr is gone, Paris asks about something that Pyotr mentioned that
was apparently lost when the world changed.  He called it "olive".  The
Empress is sad to hear it was lost.  She shows us an olive tree, warning
that the fruit is not good to eat until treated.  She says it makes a fine
oil.  We ask if it is indeed lost to Torat.  The Empress says she does not
know all of Torat.  She asks if we would like a cutting.  Paris says, "It
seemed important to him, so yes, I would."  The Empress gives Paris an olive
branch.  Alexis asks if it will grow in Torat.  "If properly cared for."
How do you care for them?  "You probably want to ask for a book on that.
For me, they just grow."

Calais asks if she's able to talk to the Emperor now.  She says yes, they
can talk across the fences.  That's how she knew before when the Emperor was
going into Torat to find the Charioteer.  Her own lands do not enter onto
Torat.

Alexis asks if she knows what the Hierophant's keys represent.  "No, I'm
sorry, I don't know.  They're not plants."  Do you know where we might find
Temperance?  "That is better asked of the High Priestess."

We leave.  Once again we find the gate closed and Paris and Rhori have to
reopen it.

As we proceed, Pyotr notices he's getting bumped.  He recalls the catnip
and gives it to Rhori, who puts it in his pack.  Hobbes promptly leaps on
him -- with a little less warning than usual.

We stop to sleep.  We wake up at dawn -- of course -- and continue on to the
High Priestess's temple.

Paris reminds Rhori about the scroll, and he gives it to the High Priestess.
She reads it, rolls it up again, and takes him to her basin.  Today the
water is clear.  She tells him to immerse himself in the water (we explain
to him what "immerse" means), and hold his breath.  "You will know when it
is time to come up again."

While we wait for Rhori to come back, we ask the High Priestess about the
Hierophant's keys.  "The Hierophant possesses the keys to the outer
mysteries.  They allow him easy access to the conventional mysteries, to the
same places that the Keys of Man and Nature will enter."  Is he of both
Keys?  "No."  Is he of either?  She believes so, but that is not her
province.  What _is_ her province?  "I mediate between Man and the Gods."

At some point during this, Rhori leaps out of the water, screaming and
wailing.  He's trying not to understand what he's learned, but he can't.
Paris goes over and lets him cry on her shoulder a while.  (Not for long,
since the spikes on her armor keep getting in his nose. :-)

Alexis asks about helping Pyotr.  "He is healing rapidly.  I think it best
to let him heal naturally."

The High Priestess declines to tell us who each of the gods is.  We try
asking why the churches split, but she says that was a choice by the people
in the church; it's not up to her how men choose to worship the gods.  "The
Hierophant keeps the Outer Mysteries; I keep the Inner Mysteries."  Do we
need to understand both?  "You need not enter fully into the Inner
Mysteries; that is the realm of the priest.  You must understand _of_ them,
but you need not know all of them."  Pyotr asks if priests must understand
all the Inner Mysteries.  "Only those that they can understand.  You have
not yet taken even the first step."  She indicates a gauzy veil.  Pyotr
asks, "May I take first step here?"  "Do you believe you are ready?"  "Wish
very strongly to be ready.  Mother never say was ready.  Mother always say
not ready."  Paris asks, "But do _you_ believe you're ready?"  "Each time
believe ready, Mother say no."

Pyotr eventually decides he's ready, or at least wants to be.  "Then I will
ask you a question.  If you can answer, you may take the first step.  Which
is the first of the gods of Tarot?"  With a bit of coaching [to represent
the campfire conversations that should have given Pyotr the background
needed to answer this], Pyotr answers "Binah, indigo, blesses the Lovers,
is first god in Tarot deck."  "You may pass."  He enters the veiled area.

The High Priestess continues not to give any information about the domains
of the gods, their colors, names, etc.  That is for us to learn by meeting
them.

Eventually we remember to ask, where will we find Temperance?  She goes over
to the pool again, and waves her hand over it.  The water turns orange, and
she studies it a while.  "The goddess of journeys is not yet here, though
she is on her way.  She rests but briefly at the end of the day.  You can
meet her where the water meets the land, at the end of the end of the day."

Rhori asks something quiet that I didn't hear.  I think it was something
about the Hierophant and/or the Outer Mysteries.  The answer was, "You will
have to ask him, because he has made them."

"You have the Keys to Man and Nature.  Wherever those form a boundary, you
can open that door."  She says that the Hierophant's keys would also open
such doors, including those at the base of the Tower, but we recall that the
Major Arcana cannot enter.  He could let someone in, though.  Someone who
got in that way wouldn't have to have met all the Majors, unless they wanted
to have Choice.

Pyotr returns.  He can now learn second-level priest spells, if we can ever
find any.  He recalls feeling that several people were watching him as he
walked through.  He didn't get a good look at any of them except a short
fellow, dressed in green, who flipped a coin as he walked through.  It came
up heads, and he nodded and stepped back as Pyotr passed.  Pyotr came out of
the veil and found himself walking back up the hill to rejoin the party.

Pyotr remarks that all the gods have been invoked at the beginning of this
journey, since it is a journey of learning, involves a bit of luck, and so
forth.

Calais asks if the gods were the same back when the zodiac was in the Tarot.
She says that was a long time ago, before the last set of Choices.  Those
who kept the books of the church, kept the books from before.  If you can
find where they kept those, they will explain who was who before.  Alexis
asks how many times the Choice has been made.  Several times.  Rhori asks if
all the gods are related?  No, but some are.  Also, some are related to some
of the Keys, and so forth.  Rhori asks if they were all the same thing
before they were gods.  Yes.  Were they all people from Torat?  No.  What
were they?  They were all people.  From someplace other than Torat?  No
answer.  Someplace other than Tarot?  Of course.  Someplace the Charioteer
guards from?  Blank look.

Since the gods have no choice, you are not the first High Priestess?  "I am
not the first of the people to become High Priestess."  Is there any
significant difference between you as High Priestess and the last person as
High Priestess.  "We perform the same role as before.  I remember all that
Genelle remembers."  Do you remember what the previous High Priestess knew?
It is more difficult (but apparently she can).

Calais asks if the breaking of the Mirror was the last Choice, when the
zodiac ceased to be in the Tarot.  "That was not a Choice well made, but the
person who did it had Choice."  Calais isn't sure if that's a yes or a no.

Rhori asks something about the gods.  "The gods act within their spheres
even now, even those not in Torat.  But those of the Minor Arcana will not
be able to achieve Understanding until the gods are in the world."  Can they
be controlled in some way?  "The gods have their roles that they must remain
in."

Rhori asks, "Before Death came, someone was trying to either help Death to
come, or maybe get some sort of influence out of having Death come.  Some
sort of ceremony involving the killing of thirteen priests?"  "That sounds
like a ceremony that could be performed."  "Would that be a ritual of the
black church?"  "It would be a way to get the attention of Death so that he
might aid you in what you were trying to do, if what you were trying to do
was destroy."  "The demesne of Death is similar to Destruction?"  (Hobbes
asks, "Demesne?"  "Shut up Hobbes.")  The gist of the reply is that
Destruction goes with the god of dying.  Death is more static than that.

Calais asks, "Are there any gods that we should be concerned about meeting?
As the mediator between Man and the Gods, can you give us any hints as to
how to approach them?"  There's no reply, so we try prompting further, "Are
there any ceremonies involved?"  (That of course opens us up for a vague
answer.)  "There are ceremonies for invoking the gods in the sphere of
Torat.  Meeting the gods is quite different, because you are going beyond
the ritual, the safe way of doing things, to meet with them face to face, a
terrifying thing for most people."  The gods don't really care if we meet
them, do they?  "They must meet the Minor Arcana who succeed in reaching
them.  If you would crave a boon from them, you must perform some service
that they would like."

Things are broken now, which is why things need to be done before the gods
can enter Torat.  Once they've entered, they can be in Tarot or Torat,
or other places such as Heaven and Hell.

Do the Fell worship any of the same gods we do?  Yes.  Do you mediate for
them as well?  Those that are men.

Is it possible to worship the black god benignly?  Why, yes.

We prepare to go out the front door.  We ask if there are orcs out there,
but she doesn't know.  Rhori tells Paris that if there are more than fifty
of them, he'll help. :-)

We come out.  It's raining.  Hobbes, still a bit giddy from the catnip,
reports there are lots of orcs around.  Rhori and Calais go off to scout.
Alexis skritches Hobbes, who promptly falls asleep on her foot.  Paris helps
lever him off.

About the time Calais hears a lot of orcs to the right, grousing about the
rain, Rhori notices an orc camp to the left, complete with banner.  They
start to head back, but Rhori has trouble retracing their route, and they
find themselves headed for another orc banner.  By the time they weave their
way back to the others, they've seen six banners.  We recall each banner
tended to be an encampment of at least 300 orcs.  That's a lot of orcs.
Fortunately, since it's raining, there aren't any wolf patrols.  (I guess
even orcs can't tolerate the smell of wet wolf. :-)  We exfiltrate and head
back to the Forest Kelli.  The elves aren't big on counting days, but we do
eventually figure out that we "lost" four days during the day and a half
spent in Tarot.

We head east toward Westmore, hoping to run into a patrol so we can make
sure they know there's 2000 orcs near Jouet.  (We told them about the orcs
there last time, but they might think that those orcs have been dealt with
in the interim, so these orcs might be news.)  We find a patrol, and
apparently there hasn't been a specific attempt to clean out that orc
encampment, so they could be the same orcs, or at least replacements for
those killed in the assaults on Westmore.

There's a whispered conversation over in the quiet section, regarding the
routes we might take to Bolon.  Rhori's previously journey there went via a
city to the north (Tauban), then west.  That route led through another elven
forest that the rest of us have never been in.  We could go there, or follow
the river directly northwest to Bolon, or return to Westmore for more info.

We end up going back to Westmore, where we learn that the Baron of Tauban
has sent a message asking for help.  The iron mines there have completely
shut down.  As those are the only source of iron for steel in the area right
now, it's rather important.  We offer to help there on our way to Bolon.
Assuming Alexis presents this offer appropriately, it should be sufficient
excuse for the Duke to provide us with horses.

[Marian/Alexis wanted to be reminded about training.  I think we finished
the current week about when we met the horse patrol, so we're two days into
the next training week when we get back to Westmore.]

Calais, who wasn't involved in the armor training, has been studying the
glassmaking book.  He finishes (and buys the KS) as we arrive in Westmore.
He notes that the section on mirrors talks at length about how to repair
them.  Usually you just melt them down, separate the glass from the metal,
and so forth.  If for some reason that's not feasible, the book includes a
different method, in which you first gather up the pieces (it includes hints
for how to handle the shards, since they are extremely sharp), put them
together, and then either melt the glass together or melt the metal
together, depending on which side you're on.

[Pat: Though the mirror stuff has obvious applications, Calais is also
interested in the other stuff.  I'll try to find some bits of glass and/or
tools suitable for working on glass.]