[Notes for the run of August 9, 2000.] Rhori wants to try to avoid being ambushed this time when we leave. He suggests that Anton get Cordelia to let drop that she's going to be attending some public function, like a party, some time after we're actually going to have left. Anton saw Cordelia briefly the day we arrived, but cannot re-enter the palace during the week of casting the boat spell. But he could write her a note and Paris could take it to her; that would also let us fill in Cordelia a bit more without the possibility of being overheard. As Anton finishes the boat, we have an otherwise uneventful week. Rhori helps track down any orcs that holed up too close to Westmore. Paris attends various social functions. Pyotr checks on the latest readings on the floor of the church. Mia stays off her feet. Calais helps spread rumors about what we'll be doing in town for the next few weeks, and tries to pick up any other rumors that are making the rounds. (He also runs across Gunther's fancy mug again at the Adventurer's Guild, but this time resists picking it up.) Most of the rumors have to do with what the Duke will do with the priests; the rumors range from hanging them all next Seventhday, to letting them off with a fine, to the Duke having been in league with them all along. There are also many conflicting rumors about the state of the war, and various other factoids, some of which we know to be true, some false, and some unclear. Nothing of obvious specific use. (Given more time, Calais could perhaps start to learn whose information tends to be more accurate.) When we actually set out, Rhori arranges for some other military wagons to be moving about, and we have Pyotr cast the Orange spell on us so, we hope, the boat looks like another wagon as long as we stay near the ground at first. Calais rigs a cloth-covered scaffold inside the tent where Anton was working, so that a casual glance into the tent will not immediately reveal that the boat is gone. We waddle out of town just before dawn as part of a caravan heading for Pierre's hill, and eventually work our way loose and take off. Anton experiments a bit to see how high the boat can go, and tries to find out if there's any danger involved in flying that high. Jarvon doesn't mention anything about thin air or cold, though he does ask if any of us are afraid of heights. (We're not.) Rhori spots two dots flying parallel to our course, off in the distance. Calais offers the telescope. They seem to be a big griffin and a baby griffin. We don't mess with them. Come evening, we land in a mountain lake. The boat does float. There are some animal cries during the night that Rhori can't identify, but he resists the urge to investigate them. On the fourth day out of Westmore we reach the coast. To the south we can see where the Teeth of the World mountain range descends to meet the coast; we can't see beyond that point. Anton wonders what lays that way, but sighs and heads along the coast in the other direction. We spot the smoke of a town below us. We land out of sight and send in Paris, Pyotr, and Alessandro to see what we can learn about the whereabouts of Earl Eastgate, Prince Martin, or anyone else important. The guards at the all-of-six-feet-high wall hurriedly struggle into their armor as we approach, and ask who goes there. Paris announces herself as Sir Paris of Astraea, and one of the guards escorts us to see the mayor of Perpignon. She explains that we're looking for the Second Cavalry. He replies, "So, you came over the hills. When you got to the coast you should have turned north." It seems that a couple months ago some of the cavalry showed up here and gave them some instructions about building the wall, saying they'd evacuate the town otherwise. So far there's been no orc trouble here, though. The mayor wonders a bit about Pyotr's clothes and accent, but Pyotr does not enlighten him. Paris asks who was commanding the detachment that came here, and learns it was Lieutenant Nobodyimportant, or perhaps Sir Not Appearing In This Picture. We continue along the coast, finding a couple more small towns. Eventually we come to one that has a tent city outside, and a pennant flying over one place in the town itself. Paris and Alessandro identify the pennant as the field pennant of a knight, but there's not enough of a breeze to reveal the device so they can't identify the knight. Rhori suggests sending in Calais alone to find out what's happening here. Calais starts at the tent city, and finds they are refugees from another couple towns to the north that did get evacuated. He takes a bit of time to pick up and mimic their accent, then wanders into the town, trying to look like one of the refugees. The knight's name, it appears, is Sir Jordain, and he has about eight men-at-arms and various hangers-on. Rhori argues against talking to Sir Jordain about finding the Second Cavalry. Eastgate is supposedly unaligned at the moment, and Rhori thinks we shouldn't spread around the fact that an unusual group is seeking him out. This town is also large enough to support a resident knight, so Sir Jordain might not be associated with the Cavalry at all. We decide to get a bit closer to our goal before we seek finer directions. The next town, on the third day since reaching the coast, has a fenced-in corral and some tents in neat rows nearby. There are a number of pennants, some military and some knight. The pennants are green, the kingdom's color, but again we can't see the devices. Since this is only the first cavalry we've seen, and we're looking for the second cavalry, we obviously need to keep going. Before we set out again, though, Cordelia asks Calais if she can use the telescope. He shows her how to use it. (It no longer requires a DEX roll.) She looks at the banners and says it's an odd collection of units. She guesses it's an R&R station. She also figures several of the officers would recognise her, so we can probably get them to tell us where to find the cavalry. Anton grumbles about staying with the boat while Cordelia goes into the town, but agrees. Mia offers to go into town to help heal the wounded, but Paris says she'd rather not have them wondering how we walked all this way with a pregnant woman. Cordelia adds that the soldiers here are not likely to be in need of Mia's level of healing. Anton advises that we think ahead of time about what we'll say if the local cavalry folk offer to provide horses and an escort to take Cordelia to her father. Paris would prefer that we not tell them about the boat, and even suggests not bringing Cordelia into the city, but we figure the officers are far more likely to talk to Cordelia than to Paris. Mia and Alessandro stay at the boat with Anton and Jarvon, and the rest of us head into town. As we get a closer look at the pennants, Cordelia heads for a particular tent and finds the commander, who tells us that the Earl has established his main camp at Chevrais, which is inland a little ways. She knows this area, and is gradually learning to recognise it from the air, so she can direct us from here. The commander does indeed offer us horses, so to quell his concerns we lead him out and show him the boat. He asks the traditional question. ("Can you make more of these?") Off we go. We find the main camp, and send in Paris to talk to the Earl and arrange for us to fly in without being shot at. She encounters a patrol headed by Sir Roderick, the Earl's son, who greets her heartily. She says she needs to speak to his father. He has two men double up to free up a horse, and they ride up to the main tent. The Earl is very happy to see her, and asks what brings her here. Paris says she has a "package" to deliver to him. She explains that we brought Cordelia, but that we brought her by flying boat and we're trying to keep that fact quiet. He asks, NOT "Can you make more flying boats", but rather, "How many horses can you carry on one?" Um, none sir. Oh, how boring then. He sends out a wagon and an escort. Rodric is part of the escort, and Cordelia is quite pleased to see him, bringing out a brief twinge of jealousy in Anton until he realises Rodric is her brother. They bring horses for all of us (Mia opts to ride in the wagon with the tarp-covered boat). Rhori is quite courtly, whereas Anton flubs his high society skills. But the Earl doesn't notice either of them; he's staring at Cordelia. "Cynthia?" "No, father." "You look just like your mother. What happened to my ugly duckling?" Seems he hasn't seen her in a few years. Cordelia introduces Anton as a wondrous bard, and asks if at dinner he'll tell the tale of how she and Carline were rescued. He says he'd be honored. (He figures he'll spend the afternoon prepping for it.) There's a barking, and a dog comes in and greets Cordelia. Cordelia is most pleased to see him, and calls him "Howlie", short for Howler. Rhori warns Hobbes not to eat the dog. At dinner, the Earl comes in with a big grin, muttering, "I can't believe he did it." None of us knows what he's talking about. (Except presumably Paris, who won't tell us. :-) Anton does a passable job telling the tale of the rescue. We get a private audience and explain to the Earl (and Cordelia) about our quest, and that we hope to find elves somewhere near Eastgate. He doesn't know of anything that sounds like signs of former (or current) elf habitation there. We back up a step and explain what Timor told us, to seek a lone mountain south of Dungeon, near the coast. He agrees that Pelier meets that description. He does say that in the records of the conquest of Pelier, there's no name given for what the natives called themselves (as, for instance, those at Westmore were called Tulus), but it's said it was a "sorry bunch" that they killed. Perhaps "sorry" was actually a mistranscription of "Sarik"? It turns out Cordelia is actually more of a historian than the Earl is, so she gives us the most information. (It's a pity nobody brought this up during the week we were travelling with her.) She mentions that part of the old original fortress included two unusual pillars, which matches part of the Moon card. As Anton talks animatedly with Cordelia about the Tarot, Alessandro and Paris notice that the Earl is glancing back and forth between the two and his smile is starting to fade a bit. Cordelia adds that she probably can't describe how to find the pillars, but could probably spot them if she were with us. Before anyone can stifle him, Anton begins to talk about how he thinks she needs to stay here, though he'd be happy to have her come with us, and so on. The Earl stands and beckons Cordelia to come with him for a little talk. Paris talks more with Rodric, and gets some more information as to how to locate the pillars. Apparently the symbol of Eastgate is two pillars with the sun rising between them. That matches the Death card, but perhaps looking in the other direction through them you see the Moon. At mention of the symbol, Anton pulls out a kerchief with the pillars-and-sun emblem on it, which nets him a query from Rodric as to how he got it. Anton, still socially clueless tonight, says Cordelia made it for him. Rodric cools off noticeably. We manage to drag Anton away before he can grow a third foot to stick in his mouth. Rhori considers taking Cordelia's dog, Howler, with us, since a dog was part of the Moon card, and a howling dog at that. But we decide it's not a good idea to simply take the dog, and nobody feels comfortable now about asking for permission. Also, since tonight is the middle night of the full moon, we think if we set out tonight and travel the night and the day, we might make it to Pelier in time for the last night of the full moon, in case that helps. (If nothing else, it might help keep Anton alive.) Anton, still ignorant of the hornet's nest he's raised, isn't happy leaving so soon, but we assure him that the Earl will be pleased to see us leave. Paris politely breaks into the Eastgate family conference to let them know we're leaving. Off we go, sailing round the clock. Anton manages to get some naps in, while others with bumps of direction keep an eye on our course and nudge him awake as necessary to make adjustments. We arrive over Pelier. We can see orcs roaming the plains and the city. Eastgate has been trashed, but we see no signs of current habitation. Anton brings the boat down into the courtyard between the two bracketing fortresses, and we look around. Rhori suggests trying magic sight, but Anton sees nothing. We hide the boat in a horse stall and start searching for the stones that Rod described. Paris, Rhori, and Hobbes, doing guard duty, surprise a few orcs, but nothing they can't handle. The rest of us look for unusual stonework. Eventually Calais spots two stones that look a bit different, and we make out the line of one pillar. So now what? Mia prays to the Moon, asking to see her, but she's not immediately inspired. We go back out to the courtyard, and consider howling at the moon, but Hobbes refuses. Alessandro suggests that the two animals on the card, which represent domestic and wild creatures, perhaps correspond to the Orders and Man and Nature, so maybe Paris and Rhori should bay at the moon? (I'm not sure if they actually tried this, though.) Rhori uses a pick to chip away some flagstones, creating a place where we can pour some water and perhaps get a reflection of the moon. Nothing. Rhori tries calling out to the Sarik elves; nothing. Midnight passes; the mages' spell pools replenish. We head to the top of the fortress to look for hidden entrances or other clues. We put Paris atop one, and Rhori on the other. We get Paris to draw her sword and call out, and Hobbes roars atop the other. Alessandro looks for windows near the tops of the pillars. He finds many, but nothing special. Giving up on Eastgate for now, we take the boat to the top of the mountain at Pelier. As we fly toward it, we see in the city some dark figures that seem to scuttle oddly, not like orcs. We observe that though the palace rises higher than anything else, the highest spot on the actual mountain is where the church is. We hole up in the church, and take the opportunity to search it. No secret passages, nothing special about the altar (though it does seem still to be consecrated with white church magic). Each night we are harassed by ghouls, but nothing we can't deal with. We check the library. It's a mess of ashes. Parts of it still hold pockets of bad air, where things are decomposing. With great difficulty we find our way back to the secret room, but it is now empty. It looks like it was cleaned out before the fire started. We start to explore the palace, but soon realise that that will take weeks. There must be a better way than blind search. We try to figure out why the elves would be, as Timor said, asleep. Pyotr points out that the church is on the highest point of the mountain, and perhaps the white magic there is somehow suppressing the elves? The rest of us wince at the thought of desecrating or otherwise messing up the church, but it's a convincing argument. We decide to go back to the church, and try moving the altar. We can't. It appears that the floor and the altar were all carved out of a single block of stone. We chip into the floor to one side and find the rock floor around the altar is about two inches thick. Beneath it is two inches of iron, then the rock of the mountain itself. Calais studies the altar and the rest of the arrangement further, but sees no sign of a mechanism for moving the slab. Rhori suggests that Paris pray to the White God to drop the enchantment on the altar. Paris spends a long time musing this, though she never manages to make clear to the rest of us why she doesn't just do it. Eventually she decides to pray for either the strength to move the stone, or for the spell to go away, whichever is needed to free the elves.