[Notes for the run of June 7, 2000.] (First off, my thanks to Barry for taking the notes for the first part of the run. I hope he doesn't mind that I've edited out all of Anton's amazing feats of derring-do. :-) We pick up in Westmore, still with Duke Evan in the big, formal audience hall. Pierre did not come into town; he and about 8-12 tough soldiers from Martin, plus Claire, stayed with the lava track vehicle. Pierre is very valuable these days: at least one of the guards is an armsmaster (OCV 15 with at least 2 weapons). Princess Carline is also not here; she stayed with Martin. She's going to go enlist Duke Tyrone's aid, by going to visit the Baron Whoopdewah, etc. etc. She has asked each of her brothers to pay half the ransom. (Yeah, right.) Cordelia stayed with Carline. Rhori and Paris grumble about Pirate Silver. We also deliver the satchel of letters, including one from Carline to the Duke. The Duke makes sure we get rewarded, giving us lots of cards, including some of his own. Anton gives back six cards he still owed Paris. (Barry thought it was less, but was apparently remembering repaying an earlier loan from the general pool of cards.) Rhori asks Calais to allot some of his cards to Paris, without letting Paris know. Paris finds she has over 20 cards; we discuss ways for her to spend them. In the audience, there are the usual hangers on. The padre is there. In addition, standing in the crowd are Henri and a noticeably pregnant Mia. The Duke is interested in other news. We mention the flying beasts. The Duke has heard from Fort Carcassone that the flyers now fly in sets of four, which makes them harder to defeat, but less encountered. Apparently everything is covered in dispatches, so we say very little. Duke Evan drums his fingers on the throne, scowling as he thinks of something. Alessandro asks what is disturbing him. "Perceptive," says Evan. Paris asks if there is anything we can do. The Duke turns to Henri and Mia. "Do you have any more to add to what you said?" Mia shakes her head. "I have to go think on this," says the Duke. "Milord," says Rhori, "I have some personal information for you." The duke says he will send for us at our usual residence when he can talk to us further; he needs to think. We ask Mia and Henri what the trouble is. Mia explains her baby cannot be born until she meets the Star; the Star has to touch her and give her her blessing. We offer for her to travel with us. We decide to go back to Jouet square and unpack. Henri adds, based on a dream he had, "According to Binah, Death is coming to Westmore. According to the White Church we are pagans. The priests of the White Church said they will not hold services or blessings or sacraments for the dead until the Duke bans the pagan Rainbow Church from this town." Anton asks if we are going back to Jouet (meaning the square). Paris corrects him and calls it Jouet Square. Anton rolls his eyes. They come up boxcars. Henri wants to travel with Mia but also needs to stay here to help his church deal with both the excommunication and the "Death coming to Westmore" problem. Mia and Henri discuss this soulfully. They need to think more. Henri says Death is coming to some other city first, but he didn't catch the name. When Binah spoke through him it was sort of overwhelming. Mia was speaking to the Star, his wife, at the same time. Mia feels she must go to Tarot to meet Binah. Pyotr seems to like the idea of being excommunicated by the White Church. Paris thinks we should go away and finish up the Tarot. Rhori suggests we should go talk to the Hierophant. Paris feels he is already in the world, so that's unnecessary. Rhori says he has questions for the Hierophant, and thinks that since he's a Major he might have no choice but to answer. Paris thinks it might not even be possible to reach him. Paris REALLY doesn't wish to end up like someone we've never heard of called Joan. Rhori notes he is wanted by the Church, and Paris is as well. Paris notes we need to understand the Outer Mysteries, but couldn't expect to change the Hierophant by confronting him. We talk some more and decide it's best simply to prepare to go to Dungeon. We will be able to take the LTV to Martin, bringing horses. A boat wouldn't be able to cross the pass to Dungeon so it wouldn't be useful. It's probably not worth enchanting another normal boat, though if Martin's men have built a boat out of highland timber by the time we get there, it might be worth the time to enchant that; we might well make back the time. Then again, if we'll have horses, that's probably good enough for this journey. Paris and Mia discuss hiring a midwife to travel with us. Pyotr goes to the Rainbow Church to collect floor writings. Mia also thinks about spells. Rhori asks Calais to discuss with Irolo how to cut through thick metal. (Rhori thinks we might need to remove the chains that are binding Nature and turning it into the Devil.) Calais obtains a suitable chisel and mallet. Paris and Rhori (and Hobbes) go to see Lucas Tanner. Lucas greets them. Rhori asks Lucas whether he dislikes Silver. Lucas is not sure whether he mentioned Silver. They discuss this. Lucas ends up confused (big surprise). Rhori hints he is plotting revenge on Silver. Rhori talks to Lucas about joining his Order. Lucas says, "All Justice has for me is the noose." Rhori says, "You are a good man now; we need you in our Order. We need the members, and you are essentially running the order." Lucas disagrees, saying he is only acting on Silverlock's orders. "Silverlock pulled me out of a deep hole. The crimes I did a long time ago were very bad. He was willing to give me a chance, even though I tried to kill him. "I was one of those who attempted to kidnap William, when he was a boy and Silverlock was guarding him. He fought like a cornered rat, and the songs of the place do not give justice to the piles of dead he left, or the wounds he took, in stopping us. He chose to spare me. I was a pirate, that burned and raped and pillaged." [Obviously not a very skilled pirate, or he'd have known that burn comes last.] Paris says, "It takes much to balance that. What have you done to balance these things?" "When I was offered a better choice by Silerlock I took it. My family was destroyed by pirates the same way; I had little choice of profession. It was really a baron pretending to be pirates as a ruse to take over another island. I had no choice but to turn to pirating myself." "I do not understand completely." "You can't, you are Justice." Rhori sharpens his axe, just starting to realise he didn't want to ask those questions. But he then decides to leave justice in Paris's hands. He goes to wait outside at about the point where Lucas is talking about having thrown babies off of walls... Paris asks, "So you became a pirate because it was expected?" "I was _expected_ to die." "But this was the past. What will you do in the future to make up for this?" "Follow Silverlock even into Hell. I wouldn't exist except for him. He is a man to follow." "And one might think, 'on his head be it'; but he will _not_ answer for your actions." "Which is why I would hold off seeing Justice as long as I may." "In hope of?" "Some of both doing some good for the one who saved me, and the fear of death." "I must agree until things are more in balance. I hope you live long." "Thank you," says Lucas. Lucas thinks a bit, then asks, "What kind of penance can there be for those crimes?" "Good works." "In whose eyes?" "The eyes of innocents." Lucas waits, but Paris does not speak further. Paris comes out and tells Rhori that they will not be going to seek Justice. (Rhori checks for bloodstains, but finds none.) Paris adds, "He has bound himself to Prince Martin such that there will be a great deal for him to do before he can see Justice safely." Rhori says, "When I went to see Justice, Justice gave me something to do before I could have what Justice had to give me. In my total misunderstanding of Justice, the scales might not be that far off balance for him. He might think they are. That might be something in his favor, I don't know. I don't think he'll walk in and Justice will strike him dead." "He knows what he needs to do. But he is Martin's man, and he'll do what Martin tells him to do, even if it means throwing babies off a wall." "Martin told him to throw babies off a wall?!?" Paris manages to drag Rhori out of this brief reversion to 'old Rhori.' But despite much further discussion, Rhori fails to understand why Paris feels Tanner shouldn't? doesn't need to? see Justice. Rhori feels that Paris's words to Tanner aren't as effective since she's just a person, and not a Royal or a God. But the two fail to resolve this deadlock. Back at the Rainbow Church, Pyotr picks up a knowledge of the gods. The pages appearing on the floor, though of course randomly ordered, seem to group into nine sections, suggesting that the Book of Chaos still includes the white and black gods. It occurs to Pyotr that, although the floor of the church glowed with words when he scrubbed it thousands of years ago, he can't remember any of those words. He remembers other things from that time, and he remembers words that he's read on the church floor in Westmore. He doesn't understand why he can't remember any words from the old church floor. Calais asks Anton about learning how to make his voice sound like someone else's, for mimicking Fell creatures or augmenting Cora's "we look normal" spell. At first Anton thinks Calais is talking about ventriloquism, and he finds out from Jarvon that there's an air spell for doing that, but Calais explains more what he's talking about. Since Anton's "played the palace", Calais hopes he knows of some entertainer who might be able to train Calais. Anton can't think of anyone offhand, but suggests the two of them go out for a night on the town and see who they find. They invite Alessandro and anyone else who might be interested, but nobody else chooses to join them. They have a fine evening, but they find no comedians or mimics. (Anton does find that many of his newly learned verses of "Barnacle Bill" have not been heard before in Westmore, but of course not all of the new verses are welcomed in some of the higher-class establishments.) The second night, they try again. This time one of the places they go does have an entertainer who gets a lot of laughs out of mimicking various voices, including the local priest, the Duke (after looking around to make sure there aren't too many of his men present), the barmaid, and someone who's trying to heckle him. After his act, we invite the guy over. Before we can introduce ourselves, though, he greets Anton by name. Anton, alas, does not remember the fellow (which, given Anton's usual state after a night of entertaining, is hardly surprising), and fails to cover this gaffe adequately, so the guy is a bit miffed. But in the end, he agrees to train Calais, though for double the usual rate (hence two silvers a week). Mia spends 6 of her 7 cards. (Later, she spends the last one as well.) Our second day in town, we're summoned to a private audience with the Duke. Mia is not present. He wants to know all the details of our trip. When we come to the confrontation with Katherine, Paris turns to Calais for that part. Calais hesitates, apologising to the Duke, and turns to Paris, explaining that he never actually told this part word for word, but he believes the Duke wants to know all that happened. Calais then recites the part where Katherine referred to Paris as "Prince William's whore". Paris, despite Calais's warning, blanches. Rhori asks about the Pirate Silver. [I'm not sure exactly what he asked.] He's also concerned that he's in trouble for having grabbed Carline when the boat fell. The Duke reassures him that it was all right to have done so. We include the report about the trip from Westmore to Fort Carcassone, and the fact that the bad guys knew we were coming. We tell about Cora's spell, and the Duke asks how to protect against it. We tell him about the limitations on the spell, and suggest that any high security area might require people to stand still for a moment (or to recross their path) before entering. Pyotr does point out, however, that the spell seems to have been granted specifically to him by the Orange Goddess, so it's not clear anyone else will show up using it. There are still thousands of orcs to the northwest and west, but the Duke's forces have engaged them only a few hundred at a time. There was an almost successful attack against Dungeon, from the north. Apparently the wall was opened for them. The men who were supposed to be on duty there were never found; they're assumed to have been spies for Louis. The "pauldrons" have not been seen there again, but the orcs do seem to be extremely well organised. (We explain to Alessandro about the Charioteer's pauldrons.) Paris asks about the White Church's ultimatum. Duke Evan says it's a hard decision for the priests here. Some of the younger priests are planning to hold a service anyway. The padre will give a service in the palace. Pyotr doesn't understand what the White Church hopes to accomplish. Paris reminds him that Change can be imposed from outside; if enough people believe that the rainbow gods are false, they can become so. Since not very many priests are giving services, they're being held in large outdoor areas to let everyone attend who wants to. There's a big one in the main square, one near Jouet, and one by a group of monks outside the city walls. Henri opts to attend the large one, but advises Mia to stay with him near the back of the crowd. Rhori and Hobbes plan to scout the outskirts, checking grates and such, in case there's a Black Church attack. He mentions this, so Mia and Henri make sure to position themselves far from any sewer entrances. We all decide to attend the big outdoor service. Paris, Anton, Alessandro, and Pyotr are hanging out near stage right; one of the many guards patrolling the area verifies Paris's identity and then lets them remain there. Calais sticks with Mia and Henri in a building far to the rear of the crowd; they're joined by a White Church priest who seems to know Henri. Again, some guards verify who they are and let them stay there. As the ceremony starts, Rhori joins Paris's group, but leaves Hobbes continuing to range. After a time, Hobbes lets Rhori know some guys are coming down the street toward the square. They're in white armor. Rhori asks if they're carrying crossbows; yes, some of them are. Rhori tells Paris about them. Paris suggests they go to meet them and make sure they don't cause trouble with the crowd. They find a dozen soldiers, six with halberds and six with crossbows, and two older priests of the White Church. One of the priests is Father Maythias. Rhori tells Hobbes to get behind the group; Hobbes says he already is, and asks if he should rip them apart. Rhori tells him not yet. Paris asks Pyotr to hang back, but Pyotr chooses to stay near her in case of trouble. As they approach, Paris tries the polite approach. "Please stop." The soldier in front says, "Make way!" Paris says, "Stop." They continue marching. She tries, "Halt, and do not disturb this service." No effect. "Halt, and state your business." Anton, having asked Paris which spell she thinks best to prepare, holds his Silence spell ready, setting on the priests and waiting for any sign of spellcasting. There's the sound of horses behind the party, presumably the Duke's mounted guards. Pyotr turns slightly to check for sure. He sees a line of the Duke's cavalry, and reports this fact to the others. In a moment, there's a solid wall of horseflesh blocking the street behind the party. Rhori goes, "Father Maythias! An equal pleasure to see you this time as last." (This is too subtle for Hobbes, who goes, "I thought you didn't like this guy, boss?") The other priest addresses the lead horseman. "Soldier, there is an illegal assembly taking place here. Help us arrest those who take the name of the Lord in vain." Paris says there are none such here. Rhori says he's not sure; he thinks those in front of him are perverting the word of God, and asks if that counts. The cavalry leader apologises to the priest, saying there isn't room for him to turn his troop around. "Your mortal souls are all in danger if you do not get out of our way." "That's a chance we'll just have to take." Paris adds, "It's difficult for our mortal souls to be in danger when we are doing the right thing." That gets her a sharp look from Father Maythias, but he retains his composure. The soldier answers, "I apologise, Father, but the horses will do what the horses will do." Rhori slings his axe and raises his visor, and starts walking forward, to let the horses move forward as well. Anton sheaths his sword and follows suit. The elder priest says, "It matters not. By sundown, Father Cornahan will no longer be a member of this Church." He turns around in place and the troop starts marching back the way they came. Against Hobbes's protests, Rhori has him move out of the way. Rhori calls some relatively gentle taunts after Father Maythias. The cavalry leader then has half the troop advance, so that all of them can turn about in place, which they slickly proceed to do. Paris recognises the fellow as Jules's older brother. He thanks Sir Paris and the rest, who thank him in return. He adds to Rhori, "You make it damned hard to keep a straight face." Paris asks Rhori, "Does it hurt that badly?" "Does what hurt that badly?" "The change in the White Church." "Yeah, it does." It does come to pass at the end of the day that the priests who conducted the ceremonies lose all their priestly powers. The next day, there's a new class at the Rainbow Church, conducted by the excommunicated white priests. Next week, the White Church sermons will be given by priests of the Rainbow Church. Pyotr's pinwheels (that look white when spun) will go over well. Henri says he wants Mia to be gone by then, since it will get much more dangerous then. Mia uses her last card for knowledge of White Church ceremonies. Rhori realises his taunting of Father Maythias was probably a mistake, and says we need to start standing watches again.