[Notes for the run of August 2, 2000.] Pyotr is curious why we need to go to the Moon to reach the Star. If we can bypass the Tower to reach the Moon, why can't we just go directly to the Star? We shake down the cardboard Mia to give more details of her dream that set us looking for the Moon. The Star, the ever-pregnant goddess of birth, told her there is no way to get to her from Torat. There are only ways to do so in Tarot, and the way via the Tower is blocked. (We have since seen what is blocking it.) Mia asked if there was a way from the Moon, and was told yes, if she could get to the Moon from Torat, she could then reach the Star from there. Mia's child, being the child of two priests, must be blessed by the Star. Once this is done, the Star will have had an influence on the world. Calais shares a thought that recently occurred to him. We've been told many times that Understanding is Key, but we have also learned that every key has five pins. (Note: This is a physical fact in Torat.) This suggests that there are five "pins" to Understanding. But what does this mean? Calais's thought was that there might be five things we need to know about each god: name, sphere, color, card, ... what's the fifth? Others suggest that the five pins refer to a division of the Tarot into five categories, which could be the Minors plus four kinds of Major (Key of Man, Key of Nature, Gods, and Others), or the four Minor suits plus the Majors. From our first encounter with elves, Paris recalls that the elves think humans only have to worry about four things: humans, keys, gods, world. (But is that five, because there are two keys.) The elves need only elves, trees, and the world. We reach no conclusion, but various of us continue to mull the question. We arrive in Westmore. Before reporting to the Duke, we ask Pierre his recommendation about the book. He says he's read a lot of Mortimer's books. This book has two of the spells that Basalt developed for putting human souls into rock form; Mortimer didn't have those in his books. Pierre would like to continue to study the book because those spells are very complicated and there might be a clue there about how to deal with creatures who have the power to turn people to stone, or how to reverse such spells. Rhori's not sure about telling the Duke about the book at all, but we decide the Duke should be told, albeit only in private. One of the soldiers who's been guarding Pierre asks to accompany us since he has some letters to deliver and feels it'll be safer if he travels in a group. We're sure this means something bad is going to happen on our way into the city, but the trip is uneventful. We get through the bureaucracy relatively swiftly, and reach the Duke shortly before noon. Anton gives a general report, omitting most details (e.g., he says only that we went into the Dungeon and advanced our quest). Anton manages to convey the impression that there are details worth divulging in a more private setting. The Duke asks about the state of the campaign, and takes us over to a military map with assorted tokens on it. Paris fills in as best she can from what we learned in Martin's camp. The Duke wonders what Martin will be doing next. Possibly the messages carried by the soldier will answer that? Since none of what we've done is particularly of import to Westmore and the Duke (e.g., no messages from Carline), he has no cards for us. He does have someone arrange a private audience for us. In the private audience, he asks us what we found in Dungeon. We give him much the same report as we gave the Emerald Baron. He asks what's next for us. We reply, delivering Cordelia. We also tell about the defeat of the earth mage, and the book. The Duke says he'd like to have the book, but if Pierre wants to study it, he won't upset the applecart. We mention what's in the book and what Pierre hopes to learn from it, and the Duke agrees it sounds useful. Paris suggests enchanting the boat at the top of the Tower, to be safe. But then there'd be the problem of getting it out of the castle without going through the antimagic shell. Never mind. The Duke can, however, arrange a safe place among his troops for Anton to do the enchantment. He asks if we've met any other Minor Arcana. We think about it and conclude that the earth mage Basalt was probably the Six of Pentacles, reversed (desire, cupidity, revenge), though presumably he ceased to be so once he died. We also fill in Alessandro as the Three of Swords. Anton asks about Calais's master, Irolo, but Calais doesn't think Irolo is a Minor. Alessandro suggests Lucas Tanner, which nets him a look from Rhori. Rhori considers it, though, and decides Lucas is not a Minor, though he's not sure why; Paris notes that he's certainly had tragedy, but the tragedy isn't related to the coming of Tarot. They're left with the feeling that there's something wrong with what they've been told about Tanner. Rhori wonders about the other party: Singer, Father Maythias, etc. We don't really know them well enough to guess if they're minors, let alone which. The Duke says if we happen to see Pierre again, we should tell him that his wife arrived back safely, and is now off at Tauban investigating the dwarf caves. Pyotr and Mia head off to the church, with Alessandro tagging along so Rhori is free to look for Tanner. The Duke has some troops guarding the church. Henri asks if Mia's friend Paris is all right. Yes, why? He reminds us of a dream he had that seemed to prophesy that Death was coming to Westmore, and had already struck Paris. He wanted to check that it wasn't Paris the person. He concludes that Death _has_ been to Paris the city. Henri is concerned about how long we'll be in town, since it's dangerous being here on Seventhday. Pyotr explains we need to be here for a week to enchant the boat. Henri says the White Churches have been sealed off, but the white priests continue to foment unrest against the rainbow priests who are running the Seventhday services, and there've been some stonings, broken bones and such. Pyotr explains what we've learned about the Blue Goddess, and that her elves observe places of power. This leads to a more general discussion about elves being the 111 servants of each god. Henri notes that this means there must be a group of Binah elves somewhere. He also notes that the god of nature is Lucifrus Morgan, but the guardians of nature are the Etteillans; the names don't match. We're not sure what that means. Those names may have been chosen by men, whose memories aren't as long as elves'. Elsewhere, Rhori heads for Tanner's office, and hears snoring. There's a lion there. It's Kivan's companion, Pounce, as in Pounce, da lion. Kivan now wears a badge of Rhori's Order. He and Jules have been making the rounds of the Majors; they've been to the Hermit, Murphy, Hanged Man, and Justice, at least. Jules is currently off to see his fiancee, Lorraine. (No, not because she's a Major.) Tanner says they have been getting reports of extra orc activity in the north and west, like they're moving fast and we should expect another attack soon. They'd like Rhori and Kivan to go out and see if we can learn more about what's going on. He asks where Rhori will be staying; Rhori says he's not sure yet, it depends on how likely we are to be attacked if we sleep at Jouet square. In private, Rhori tells Tanner about the elves and their relationship with the gods. Tanner says Kivan reported running into some prankster elves (we would probably call them leprecauns) who call themselves Murphy elves. Rhori asks if there's news of Martin, whether there are more people being started in the Order, and so forth. Then he asks permission to ask some more personal questions. Tanner stiffens a bit but gives permission. Rhori, keeping his voice even, explains what Paris told of her previous conversation with Tanner, and says he has the feeling there's something more. Tanner, holding back tears, croaks out, "You have a very direct manner." Rhori answers, "Sorry," but continues to wait. Tanner pauses, shaking his head. "There's always more." "Okay," says Rhori expectantly. He pours Tanner some wine and sits down. Tanner says, "Tell me of your family first." Rhori explains his background. "No siblings that I know of. Mom died when I was pretty young, probably because my father in one fashion or another killed her. I was the way I was because of my father mistreating me and my mother. From the time I was very young, I was taking care of the family business, and generally being abused by my father when he was sober enough." He adds that he turned down rescuing his father from Hell. "Is he worth rescuing?" asks Tanner. "Is there anyone who deserves to be in Hell? I don't know his story. There are many people I know whose stories I do not know. I will not judge him. I have been unable to save him and also do the most good for the most people." Rhori adds that it's been hard at times. "Luckily I had good friends with me to help me make decisions." Tanner finishes his wine and refills the glass, topping off Rhori's as well. Then he speaks. "My older brother was pressed into such as well. He was the one who rescued me when I was thrown off the wall. He took us to the pirates and found work for me as a cabin boy. He did as he was ordered, killing civilians, women and children, all to save my life. I would do much to save his soul. So I must answer for his sins, because he did them to save me." "I don't think it works that way," says Rhori. "Then what way can it work?" "_Can_ you save him?" "I must. Who else will?" In short, then, Lucas has taken his brother's sins upon himself in the hope that he can atone for them. Lucas's brother was cut down by Silverlocke, but Lucas was just a cabin boy and Silverlocke took him under his wing. Elsewhere in the palace, Calais has more trouble than usual during his session with Irolo, because his stomach hurts and he feels very upset for no apparent reason. He figures Paris must be getting some bad news. Eventually the feeling cuts off abruptly, suggesting that Paris has left the castle. Calais asks Paris about this later, and Paris explains (to any who care to listen) that (probably due to Jules's arrival and subsequent "couple stuff" :-) it took Lorraine some time to tell her that Ewen's father had died. "It took long enough that I was afraid she was going to tell me it was Ewen who had died." In the evening, Jules and Kivan turn up at Jouet Square to meet with those of us staying there (which seems to be all of us except Mia, who is staying wherever she and Henri usually do). Jules's sword scabbard is empty, but he is carrying a military ax. They tell some abbreviated tales of their adventures, and mention two others of their party: Afshari, a water mage who originally came from Arabia and who is currently staying in his quarters to soak his feet and complain to anyone who will listen, and Wrath, a monk who's taken a five-year vow of silence to cleanse himself in some way. Jules says the Hermit gave him a piece of cloth that has a bit of gold foil that he said he found along the seacoast. (They met the Hermit on a coast, not atop a hill as we did, though it was still beyond the end of the World.) The foil is about a half inch square, and is inscribed with the crossed keys of the Hierophant. The Hanged Man had more to say about the Hermit's foil: At the feet, to left of center, at the center of faith, find a sword of white, to repulse the dragon of bone. Jules also says, "Justice said I shouldn't try to replace this sword until I found one I wanted to keep." He asks how our quest is doing. We summarise our progress, but Paris adds that she wants to give Jules more details in a more secure setting. If we fall, it'll be up to him and others to carry on. Rhori mentions that he'll be going out to check out the orcs headed this way. He thinks they're refugees from the fall of Paris. Jules remarks that he and Kivan were at Paris, and though there are still a few signs that suggest it was "old Westmore", it's just a big pile of rubble now. He doesn't know what destroyed the place, but there were some really big depressions in the ground. If they were footprints, it was something indescribably huge, with a stride of ten meters and toes four feet apart. (Well, that sure sounds describable to me!) They also didn't look like footprints: no pads, etc. The dead orcs had mostly been crushed, some had been dismembered. Unlike our Paris, they went to the city of Paris to get to the Tower; they went down into it there to see Justice, and then came out here in Westmore. Alessandro passes along Henri's vision about Death coming to Paris, and then to Westmore. Rhori asks if anyone has ever heard of a bone dragon before this Hanged Man item. Nope, the only mention of dragons so far was that Cora Stran listed a few among the older Tarot. Indeed, we realise suddenly that one of those dragons, the Solar Dragon, was called Iliaco. Presumably this is why the elves of the Sun are the Iliacan elves. Rhori's point is that perhaps Death is the "bone dragon", and that the footprints lacked pads because there's no flesh. So, though Death may be coming to Westmore, perhaps Jules's prophecy explains how to repel him. We wonder if Jules's sword, or at least a further clue, might be in the local White Churches, and in particular in the main church (a building that the players would call Notre Dame). We're told the churches are sealed with glowing white shields. Rhori says that probably wouldn't stop Paris from entering. (We explain what we've learned about white spells not affecting members of the Order.) But there are also mundane guards, so it's not clear Paris would be permitted to leave once she entered. We discuss perhaps having Calais check out the white shield spell to see if he (or Irolo) can figure out a way past it. Paris hesitates over going into the White Church, but it's not clear why. Pyotr also doesn't want to go into a White Church. Paris eventually explains that she's spent much of the afternoon trying to figure out how to convince the Church to drop the excommunication edict, and doesn't want to antagonise them if that would jeopardise that. And Pyotr decides he'd be willing to go into the church if he thinks of it as enemy territory, though that sort of bothers some of the rest of us. Rhori's not bothered: he feels this White Church has nothing to do with the faith he grew up in. Hobbes offers to jump Paris, but Rhori reluctantly tells him not to. Hobbes then suggests jumping Kivan; apparently Pounce doesn't do that. Rhori suggests teaching Pounce to jump on Kivan. After some debate, Jules interrupts and suggests we ask the Padre what's inside the Church. Rhori and Calais check out the White Church. It's enclosed in a white shell. There are some of the Duke's guards outside in a defensive posture, and some townsfolk holding a candlelight vigil, praying to be let in. Next morning, Rhori and Kivan head off to find the orcs. That doesn't take long. The orcs are marching at a frantic pace. They'll arrive at Westmore tomorrow, but they'll be exhausted. There's some uruk-hai and ogres, and at least a few giants, but no obvious commander, and no wolves. There are somewhere between fifteen and twenty thousand orcs. Rhori sends Kivan and Pounce back to give initial word, while Rhori does a bit more scouting. (Apparently Hobbes and Pounce share a link, as Hobbes did with Rex, provided they re-establish it by touching noses any time one of them enters or leaves the palace. So Rhori can relay additional findings and get the word back to Westmore sooner this way.) Meanwhile, Paris, Jules, Alessandro, and Calais go to see the Padre. Paris explains there might something extremely important for saving Westmore, a sword, inside the church. She asks if he can tell us anything about what's in there. He tells us what he can from memory, but says he hasn't been outside the palace since the excommunication order came down, since the Duke has a theory that the palace be protecting him from being excommunicated. He says the Hierophant gave orders that the altar in the main hall be kept covered most of the time, as a secret of the priesthood, since it contains a variety of symbols he considers important. The padre did not get a good look at it, but it does have a lot of symbols, and much of the work is in gold, though most is white. As to getting in, the church has ecclesiastical troops in addition to the magical shell. Paris says she thinks she could get past the shell. He agrees, given what he's seen of her sword. He thinks only the very highest in the church would have any chance of excommunicating her. Getting past the troops is another matter. We could try Pyotr's spell, but the church might have protection against spells, much like the palace does. The Padre isn't sure if Duke Evan is prepared to escalate matters against the church by supplying troops. So we arrange a private meeting with the Duke. (The Padre is not present; let him keep some plausible deniability.) Paris explains that we think there might be a white sword within the church that would be instrumental in repulsing Death from Westmore. He asks how she proposes assaulting the Church. She says she believes she can get past the magic, and can bring others with her. The Duke says there are reports of priests inciting the people against his rule, so he has grounds for sending in troops. But if we don't find anything in there, the city will be in flames. A messenger arrives and hands the Duke a paper. He reads it and storms out, calling for his commanders. We follow, and he tells us there are 15-20,000 orcs headed this way. He says if there's anything besides orcs, he'll order his men into the Church. We spend the afternoon investigating various approaches, such as the sewers under the church. We ask the Padre about the main hall where the altar is, and whether it's likely to be empty. No, there will always be some people present. Rhori returns around nightfall. It's the dark of the moon, but something white appears in front of the darkened moon. It has skeletal bat-wings, and a long body with a big head and long tail, and four legs folded under it. We go to ask the Duke how many men he can send with us to the Church. :-) We discuss how to hit the Church. This is Jules's quest, so we're just there to help. After the usual dithering, we decide to take a bunch of troops and have Paris insert them and Jules's party through the shell, after which Jules will point out the dragon to the churchmen and say that they're going to go in and get something to save the city from the dragon, and if they don't make any trouble nobody needs to get hurt. Jules adds the fillip that he'll first speak to the people holding the vigil outside, pointing out the dragon, and asks Paris to let them inside as well. Paris steps into the white shell, and casts a shadow against it. She holds up her sword to enlarge the shadow, and others can enter through the gap. Jules also casts a shadow, but has no sword with which to make it larger, so he continues forward. The two guards outside decide not to start a fight, but send for reinforce- ments as Jules's troops head in and secure the altar room. Jules rips the cloth off the altar. The face of it is marble, with gold filigree. At the top is a little arc of the sun, on the left of the sun's rays is a little garden, on the right is a city with a tower. Centered is the big double circle of the church, inside of which is what looks like a depiction of the Hierophant's card, but the two supplicants are not priests. The one on the left appears to have a bow; the one on the right has a sword. There are also three angels on each side of the circle. At the feet of the Hierophant image, where the card normally depicts the crossed keys, Jules places the foil and finds it flexes a bit. He pushes, and there's a cracking sound. The gold filigree glows red hot, then white hot, and the marble shatters. Inside it is an altar with a different face. It's got much older style artwork. There's a man on the left, a city with a tower in the center, and a woman on the right. Below that are five people on either side, playing tug of war with an empty gold-rimmed square about half an inch on a side. Below that are a goat man, seven figures of the sexes matching the seven gods, and a skeleton. The people playing tug of war are female, male, female, male, male on one side, and male, male, male, male, female on the other. Jules places the foil in the obvious place, there's an electrical display, and the top of the altar opens. Sitting inside is a sword, of all white steel. Jules picks it up, and we hear the familiar heavenly choir. We exit, meeting Paris as we go; she headed in when the white shell vanished, apparently as the altar shattered. One of the outside white priests who had managed not to be excommunicated yet leads in the vigil- holding townsfolk for a midnight service, while the troops arrest all the other priests. Back out at the wall, the Duke has been holding the dragon at bay, breaking swords against it as it baps him away. The Duke finds that it actually is possible to take stun damage while wearing his spiffy armor. Anton, during a break from the boat-casting spell, finds a good large area of orcs and giants and such and lets loose with Jarvon's huge lightning spell. He finds the results quite satisfactory. When the dragon sees Paris and Jules approaching, it exhales a black dust that blocks out the sky. Some of it settles on them, and their badges flare, protecting them at least somewhat from whatever effect the dust might have. The dragon addresses Jules, but everyone nearby, including those on that portion of Westmore's wall, can hear what it says. "So, Guardian. You have Nemesis. Two? There are not enough of you to kill me. I shall be watching, Guardian, and I shall be back." It leaps away. Its tail flicks down and kills another hundred orcs, just out of spite. It flies off, heading west-northwest. Through the night, we get to kill exhausted, panicked orcs. Eventually some of them realise this direction of flight isn't working, and run off in some other direction. Come morning, we estimate we have five thousand dead orc bodies to burn. We also discover that an area about the size of a football field where the dragon alighted is completely dead; no plants, no insects, nada. (It's not obvious whether this is just from touching the dragon, or from the dust it exhaled.) To no one's surprise, the prints left by the dragon match those found by Kivan at Old Paris. Jules realises that he cannot continue questing for the Majors. That would require taking the sword away from Westmore, and the dragon might then return. (Though its interest in Westmore is probably lessened now that it cannot curl up around the unwielded sword.)