[Notes for the run of May 10, 2000.] We settle down to discuss plans for the rescue expedition. Paris begins by apologising to the group, saying she honestly hadn't realised that she was volunteering anyone's help but her own. Anton says he's glad she's coming. We discuss what we'll need. Pyotr suggests warm clothes, including clothes for the two ladies. Paris observes that the boat isn't very big, and might not carry enough supplies. Someone says we might need to resupply on the way, but we won't be able to do that once we're out over the water. We need to talk to someone who's travelled the area to get an idea of how long the journey will be, and how much of it will be over water. We talk about what will be involved in resupplying on the islands along the way. We conclude that showing up in a flying boat with a lion and a bunch of armed fighters will impress the heck out of any peasants, so we oughtn't run into much resistance, especially if we offer to pay for supplies. And we should be travelling ahead of the news of us. We ponder the possibility of anti-magic defenses at the island, and how to reduce the chance of the boat being spotted. We figure we'll approach at night, though that could lead to some risk of hitting the castle or the mountain. After some prodding, though, Anton recalls that the castle itself is well lit (except for the tower cell itself). Paris suggests thinking ahead of time about what we'll do if the women are not in the room when we get there, and also what we'll do if only one them is there. But we don't come up with anything specific; the feeling seems to be that it's too hard to guess what the situation might be, and we may have to deal with it on the fly. Given the time of year, we may have to fly through storms. Rhori says we'll need buckets for a couple different reasons. Anton asks Jarvon about spells to predict or control the weather. Jarvon can control winds, and can create thunder and lightning, but cannot create a real storm or control an existing one. Jarvon again tells Anton to watch out for the boat getting caught in an astral current. The currents run between nodes of power. If we do get into one, we should try to go with the current, but be sure to get out before it reaches a node of power. If we hit one, it'll toss us out almost anywhere, and not necessarily in this world. There are two ways to sense astral currents. You can sense whether you're near one, or you can sense the distance to the nearest one. Anton goes out and has Jarvon look, and learns there is a node nearby. We didn't get caught in it, partly because it is higher than the boat can reach. After a bit of figuring, Anton determines that the air node is on a straight line starting from the earth node (where Pierre set up shop) and going through the palace into the air. He conjectures that maybe there are water and fire nodes either on that line or at right angles to it, but Jarvon tells him that water and fire don't have nodes of power or magical currents. Anton asks Jarvon if he knows what the flying mounts might be. He doesn't have much of a description, though, so Jarvon ends up rattling off a list that includes griffons, pegasi, ambersons, gollywompers, really small dragons, bats, chickadees, ... "Your description lacks something, Ascot." We test the capacity of the boat. It can carry nine people and a reasonable amount of their gear. Water counts toward the limit, so we definitely want to leave some slack, and be prepared to bail. Anton, just to make sure it's been said, explicitly says that he intends to try to rescue the two ladies, and that he would welcome any help the rest of us are willing to offer. Paris tells Rhori she's given some thought to the issue of whether she's still a knight and a member of a Royal Order. Before she can go into details, however, Rhori says that as long as she's thought about it to her satisfaction, that's good enough for him. Paris stutters to a halt. The next day, Paris, Pyotr, and Alessandro go to see Justice. His scales are balanced. Paris makes the appropriate obesiance. Pyotr does his best, but he only really knows how to behave with gods. "What case do you bring before Justice?" Paris answers, "In some sense, my Lord Justice, I bring my own, in that I need to learn more about the Order of the Astraean Guard, and I know nowhere to learn it any more." "Then you must seek until you find your own Understanding." "I had understood that my seeking revealed mysteries for others above me in the Guard..." She hesitates, and Justice replies, "Such is true. The greater must command the lesser." "And this is sufficient to the betterment [not sure what word she used?] of the Guard, that I simply seek?" "The Guard will not be better until you Understand." "I see. I think I understand that much." "What of these two that you bring to me?" "I bring them to you because they have joined the quest." [Again, not sure if that's what she said.] Justice turns to Pyotr. "What do YOU understand of Justice?" "Understand very little. Paris believe that Justice must come from within, only orders can be imposed from without. But that is just for Paris. Don't know for me." "Face you an injustice?" "Perhaps only injustice for me is, those who would be king, fight among themselves, not fight orcs, not working for better kingdom." "But that is not YOUR injustice." "True. Perhaps did not understand question. Maybe no injustice, just wanted to be priest." Justice thinks a moment. "Though the laws were not strictly applied to you, yet I can't say there was a _great_ injustice. As for your not becoming a priest, you shall have to face the one that did that to you." He turns to Alessandro. "And you?" The scales tip to one side as he speaks to Alessandro. But Alessandro is cardboard, so the conversation went unspoken. "Seems some peril when speak with Justice," says Pyotr to Paris afterward. "Maybe not physical peril, but Justice want to know why you're there. If not have good reason, could be not smart." Paris tells him, "It requires that you understand yourself in some sense, and there's no guarantee that the outcome will be happy." Rhori talks to Anton about finding Prince Martin en route, saying that without talking to Martin he doesn't feel he can bring Hobbes or his Order's magic with us. Calais wants to know if the Umber's Hulk bits are useful for anything. Pierre's still not in town. We ask at Hadji's Used Rug Emporium, and find that the pieces are likely useful, but we'd have to ask earth mages to find out just what can be done with them. We finish settling on the gear and such we'll need. Calais buys some foul weather gear, including extra sets for Carline and Cordelia, and a shuttered lantern. He gets some pitch to blacken the bottom of the boat, to make us harder to spot if we approach from the air at night. We'd like some sort of navigation equipment, but there's nothing we know how to use. We do requisition a good map. Paris gets a heavier bow for Pyotr, and some armor-piercing arrows. We already have a reasonable amount of rope, but at Anton's suggestion Calais asks Paris to requisition a grappling hook. She also talks to duGryphon about likely fortifications, placement of ballistas, and so on. We agree to try to find Martin en route. Paris says that she'll want to avoid Martin; we recall an earlier discussion about how she is now a "knight errant", and if she's not careful she's going to end up having to swear fealty to someone new. But this just means we'll need to drop her off or something when we head for Martin. She wonders whether she could continue on to Nice Place while we look for Martin, but there's no way she can get there before we would. We conclude that we'll put the boat down on the outskirts of Martin's area, and most of us (including Paris) will simply stay with the boat while Rhori and Hobbes go to see Martin. We set out, with the boat loaded on an oxcart until we make it over the pass to Fort Carcassone. As we travel, Pyotr relates something strange that happened to him in town. "So, was at church, was washing floor, spend much time washing floor at church. Many people around trying speak like me. Was somewhat funny. Not very good at it. Not sure why they do it. But other people speaking very much like me. Woman look up. Is woman in orange robe, and woman in rainbow robe. One says, they not believe. Not very good at obscure... what is word? Cryptic. Orange one say that. That's why think orange one was Temperance. Cannot remember other name. Oh, right, Cora. Other one say try, but not work, have to make them try. Other one say something, one or other say something about, his mother understood, and then they leave room. I curious so I follow, go through side door, and on other side say, if think will help, then will do. And then, then am looking at floor of church, but just left floor of church, is covered with orange runes, is spell. Maybe if practice, could do spell. And then am back, still looking at floor, just regular floor, no runes, people seem very surprised, looking at me. Anyway, women gone, nobody see but me. People say saw me run across room, enter door, then am here. Uh, there." We press for a description of the rainbow- robed woman. He says the rainbow robes were brighter, not like his robes, but he didn't see her face. Rhori thinks it was the High Priestess. Does he know what the spell would do? "Way spell form, looks... When give extra toughness, defense, is like that but different." That is, it's some sort of blessing. Paris has Calais offer three of her cards to Pyotr to see if they'll help him learn the spell. Anton also asks Calais to repay three of his cards to Paris, so she can offer them as well. Pyotr takes the six cards, but absorbs only one, then returns the rest to Paris (who presumably hands them back to Calais). Pyotr thinks that absorbing more cards would make the spell easier in some way, like less tiring, but he thinks he needs to practice the spell also. He tries casting it, and an orange glow settles upon us, but it goes away if we stop walking. If Pyotr walks in a circle and comes back to the same spot the spell goes away. Anton casts Magic Sight and tries to discern the effect. Its closest effect is like a rainbow church spell, but it has only orange to it. It seems to be utterly unlike any other clerical spell he has ever seen. It seems to have something to do with obscuring vision. But he can't tell whose, or in what way. Some of us move out of the area of effect and look back at the party, but we don't see anything different. Anton conjectures that it has something to do with what Temperance said about blending in with other people, but that's only a guess. We expect to travel four days by oxcart. Through the snow. Uphill. On the second day out, we have Rhori scouting out ahead, with Calais some distance behind him but keeping him in sight. Hobbes and the cardboard Alessandro are asleep in the boat, on the cart. Paris, recalling old skills, is driving the cart. Suddenly Rhori slips, and almost falls into a snow- covered trap. Hobbes wakes in a panic, dumping Alessandro. Pyotr notices a movement to one side just in time to dodge as the arrows start to fly. An enormous number of arrows come at him, only one of which hits. A few arrows come at Paris, one hitting her in the shoulder. Two flaming arrows hit the boat. Calais and Pyotr hear a voice from the right saying, "Fall back!" Rhori clambers back from the edge of the pit, noticing a dead orc impaled on spikes at the bottom. He reminds Hobbes to turn invisible. "Oh, right. I remembered that. Are you all right?" "I'm fine." Paris stops the cart and prepares for combat. Calais eyes the open terrain between him and where the voice came from, and doesn't like the idea of charging it. Anton, who was on the far side of the cart, notices some of the arrows, and climbs up to help put out the fire. He asks what's going on, and Paris calls out, "Arrows from the right." Calais runs back to the cart and asks, "Anton, how long does it take to cast that protection from arrows spell?" Rhori asks Hobbes what was shooting at us. A moment later, several cloaked figures with bows get up from hidden positions in the snow and retreat. A single voice calls, "Get the boat! Get the boat!" Six small, flying figures approach, cackling, each carrying two flaming objects. Anton calls to us, "Protect the boat!" and puts up his air wall. On segment 9, there's a >fwump< as something kicks up a lot of snow on the other side of the air wall. The dreaded snow gopher proceeds to dig up a trench of snow toward the retreating archers. A moment later, Hobbes (the gopher) reports that they appear to be human. Rhori, remembering how Rex got killed, tells him not to chase them. The six imps approach the wall. One starts to move along it; two stop and look at each other, confused; one starts to fly over it; and two quickly clamber over it and keep coming. Anton smokes one with a magic missile to the head. Alessandro puts out the other arrow stuck in the boat. Rhori throws an axe and hits one in the thigh. He throws a second axe, and the imp falls to the ground in two pieces. He also gives Hobbes leave to attack one, but Hobbes can't get close enough to do it this phase. Another imp comes over the wall, and Anton and Alessandro both zap it. Paris and Calais, who've clambered up onto the boat, see that the archers have fallen back and met up with some larger figures, but they're all continuing to fall back. Hobbes grabs one of the two confused imps. The other imp near it shrieks and drops his flaming balls into the snow. We finish off the remaining imps, and continue on. We deduce that the pit trap was intended specifically to catch Hobbes; the dead orc would've drawn him by the scent. We foiled them basically by choosing to have Hobbes asleep in the cart rather than out in front. Pyotr wonders why so many arrows came at him. Calais suggests it's because he's our main healer. Paris may've been targeted because she's our other healer, or because she was driving the cart. Rhori and Hobbes head off to see where the archers and the others have gone. There seem to be a few imps watching for trackers. Hobbes reports a mixed force of about 40-50 humans, orcs, and things larger than orcs. Rhori smokes a couple imps, then heads back and reports what he found. Paris remarks, unhappily, that these humans working with orcs obviously have information sources in the castle at Westmore. (Though possibly their sources weren't aware of Paris's background as an oxcart driver.) Alas, we can't pursue the bad guys without leaving the boat behind. So we proceed on course, with a heightened sense of awareness that we are not yet outrunning the news of our coming. The next day the weather turns so foul that we surround ourselves and the ox, turn the boat over, and sit it out. So it actually ends up taking us six days instead of four to reach Fort Carcassone. Mysteriously, we are not attacked a second time. (Given the direction of the storm, it seems likely that it was worse where the bad guys were. And the last time we got caught by storms, they delayed us just enough to put us at Jarvon's castle on the full moon. Maybe somebody has indeed been blessing our journeys?) The Fort has been bolstered by a lot of heavy seige equipment, aimed downhill at the orcs ranged to the east. We check in with the Baron Carcassone, and tell him about the band we encountered to the west. He says this is the first time he's heard of an organised group on that side. However, it's not the first time there've been humans working with the orcs; we saw some at Pelier, for instance. He says that most of the archers the orcs use are humans. They seem to do it for the pay. As for the imps, those have been associated with renegade priests of the Black Church; they're some kind of servant of the Church. (He cautions us that that part is not for public consumption.) Fort Carcassone is still a bit too high for the boat to take off. The Baron describes a route that his scouts use to get down into the valley. We can portage the boat down a ways and then take off. We ask about the flying reptile mounts, and are told they usually fly in pairs. The riders are dark (I assumed that was just a physical description, since I gather nobody's gotten a good enough look to know if they're Dark), and appear to be wearing heavy metal armor. Calais asks when they tend to be seen; he describes the telescope and suggests using it to try to get a better look at them. Maybe we'll have a chance before we set out. For now, it's late enough in the day that we look forward to spending one last night in the comparative safety of the Fort.