[Notes for the run of August 23, 2000.]

Paris prays, but no giant hand comes down to move the altar.  Calais
suggests she touch the altar with her sword.  Nothing happens.  The altar
does not detect as evil.

We spend three days digging through the bedrock to get under the altar,
using armor-piercing lightning bolts and military picks, and fending off
occasional attacks by ghouls and such.  Sooner than we expected, we break
through.  Calais wriggles through the narrow opening, aided by a push from
Rhori's foot.  (Rhori's always wanted to do that.)  He finds the other side
somewhat sheer, but manages to find handholds, and accepts a torch so he can
look around.

He's inside a cylindrical tunnel above a dome-shaped room.  The dome is
about ten feet high at the center, from which point the tunnel, six meters
wide, extends up another ten feet.  The top of the tunnel is plugged by the
iron slab under the altar.  We've broken in near the bottom of this vertical
tunnel; our hole, currently two feet big, is centered about three feet from
the top of the dome, i.e. seven feet below the iron slab.  It occurs to
Calais that this is a bit odd, since on the outside we've dug down about
four feet lower than the hole, in order to have a place to stand while we
swing at the hole, and that means the person standing there digging should
have his feet dangling in midair under the roof of the dome.

Calais takes one end of a rope, and drops down to what turns out to be a
loamy forest floor.  Around him he sees the darkness of the dome, and the
trunks of trees.  It's not clear how big the base of the dome is, or how
the trees manage to fit under it.  He describes all this to the rest of the
party, then tries calling out, "Elves of Sarik!  I am here with a Guardian
of Nature and other friends.  We seek your aid."  There's no response.  He
also hears no birds singing or other forest sounds.

Calais leaves the rope and goes over to examine the trees.  He climbs one,
and finds branches continuing ever upward, going far further than the twelve
feet he thought the dome covered.  Somehow there always seems to be room for
another offshoot between his current branch and the dome.  He hesitates and
goes back down to make he can still find the rope.  It takes a moment as he
finds himself on the wrong side of the tree, but yes, there it is.

Rhori meanwhile continues to expand the hole.  When it's large enough for
the rest of the party, we tie the rope to the altar and use it to let
everyone in, except for Anton who stays by the boat.  By then, Calais has
gone back up the tree, having left a marker at the base to indicate which
one he's climbing.

This time he goes up quite a ways, he estimates about forty feet.  It's kind
of tricky because the rock presses into the tree.  Eventually he comes to a
hollow in the tree.  Lying in it is an elf, who looks older than usual, like
a middle-aged man.  He speaks to the elf but it does not wake.  He calls
down to the party but they can't hear him clearly, or vice versa.  He
touches the elf, then shakes him gently, then not so gently.  No result.

Below, Pyotr tries praying, and reports that he feels that this part of
Tarot is somehow cut off from the rest.  Paris suggests, admitting it is a
wild guess, that maybe the shards of the mirror can help reconnect it.
Pyotr nods, recalling that Timor explicitly gave him a shard, but we don't
have any ideas how to go about it.

Rhori looks around.  He notes that, further from the dome, the types of
trees start to vary.  Examining several, he finds only one that is an oak.
Calais has come back down by now, and based on Rhori's observation heads
next up the oak.  Sure enough, there's another hollow.  Lying on a bed of
fresh oak leaves is a female elf about the same age as Timor, very
distinguished looking, richly dressed.  Her hands are clasped, and atop them
is an acorn.

Calais hesitates, but takes the acorn.  He doesn't see any obvious place to
insert it, so he takes it down to Rhori to ask him about it.  Rhori asks
Hobbes if it smells like Tarot or Torat; it's of Tarot.  Mia checks it for
magic, and it reminds her of the seeds we got from the Empress.  Paris
suggests taking it out of this part of Tarot and planting it in Torat, to
see if it creates a new connection between Torat and Tarot.  So we exit the
hole and plant the acorn.  We also send Calais back up the tree to leave a
note with the Queen explaining what we've done.

That night, when the slender crescent moon rises and its light touches the
spot, the acorn sprouts.  Paris, Anton, and Hobbes are on watch; Paris
declines to use her sword to disrupt the magic. :-)  On third watch, an elf
comes out of the hole in the dome.  She looks old and stately.  Alessandro
and Pyotr both manage to remember their courtly graces, and greet her.  She
returns their greetings in a tired voice, and also greets Rhori.  She goes
over and touches the still-growing tree, then turns back to Rhori and asks,
"There is much wrong here, Guardian.  What has happened?"  He explains that
magic was gone for a long time, the Mirror was broken, and so forth.  "You
seek to set things right," she says.  He affirms this.  She thanks him for
her rescue.  "Much has been done here."  "Much was done to prevent you from
returning."  "Much of earth.  Much of stone.  Was this the work of Dubious?"
"Maybe, I don't know."

Rhori explains that we are trying to find the one we call the Moon.  "You
seek the human path."  "Yes."  "It will be soon.  When the Moon is in its
first quarter, rising above the hills Sarik, if you wait at the base of the
hill -- it should be covered in trees but it is not anymore -- if you wait
at the base of the hill, and have with you a dog to howl, and if a wolf
comes to join, then you will see the silver stream from the Moon.  Stand in
the stream.  It will carry you upwards, and in the course of three of your
days take you to the Moon."  "It is a long way."  "It must be."

Rhori asks if we can help her wake the other elves.  She says she must
prepare and plant a seed for each of them; we can help by moving more of the
flagstones to create places to plant them.  It will also be some time before
she will have enough warriors here to protect the tree, and her spells are
weak from her long sleep.

Paris and Anton head back in the boat to get Howler.  Anton is enthusiastic
about talking to Cordelia again, but Paris insists that he will stay with
the boat, and says she'll talk to him as they travel.  [To be run offline?]

Paris finds the camp is a bustle of activity.  Cordelia is dismayed to see
just Paris, but Paris assures her the rest of us are fine.  She explains
that for the next stage in our quest we need a dog who will howl.  Cordelia
asks for more explanation, and wants to go.  Paris explains, but says she
cannot take Cordelia; she cannot even guarantee the safety of the dog.

Cordelia agrees, but on one condition.  "You have to talk to my brother, and
convince him not to be so angry with Anton."  Paris asks, "How much was it
Anton, and how much was it you?"  Cordelia retorts, "How much is it you,
and how much is it Ewen?"  "Is it truly like that?"  (This must all be
girlspeak, since I don't follow any of it, but Paris and Cordelia seemed to
understand it.)  Cordelia explains, "I don't care how well they swing their
swords.  I've been around people who've done that all their lives.  But
someone who delights in language, who can make it sit up and do what it was
meant to do...  Don't you see?  To find someone who thinks the same as me,
like that, it's exhilarating, it makes you sing inside..."  Cordelia does
seem to be in love.  Paris agrees to do what she can to calm Rodric, and
comes away with the dog.  She also picks up more supplies, both for us and
for the elves.  It appears that Earl Eastgate is preparing for a major push
of some sort; more towns are being evacuated, and lots of forces moved.

Back at Pelier, Rhori sends Hobbes off to locate some wolves, and has him
herd one over to where we can capture it.  Rhori doesn't want to use his
ranger spells to control it, though, since we need it "wild" to match the
wolf on the Moon card.  He ties it up some short distance away.

The elf queen isn't able to prepare seeds or grow trees during the dark of
the moon, so there's only one warrior for a while.  We hope there'll be
enough by the time we leave.  We presumably have some time to talk with the
queen, but we don't go into details.  (It's probably safe to assume that we
tell the queen about Timor, who directed us here, and that he still lives.)

Calais had asked Paris to find out what it takes to make Howler howl, if
there is any trick to it.  Turns out he always howls at the just-past-new
moon.  What a coincidence.

We go back down to the pillars, and the dog howls, and we set loose the
wolf.  A silver stream appears, and we stand in the water.  We seem to be
carried along by it, higher and higher, through some clouds, and beyond.  We
travel like this for three days; the water isn't deep, so we can sit in it
to sleep.  (Soon the stream reeks of wet lion.)  The moon gets bigger and
bigger, and the land behind us gets smaller.

The river eventually touches the moon's surface, and we step onto some sort
of tiles.  The landscape is odd; all black and white.  The rocks are sharp
pointed spires; there are no trees or plants or birds.  There's a palace
that's made of neither rock nor metal; it feels quite different from
anything we're used to.  (Try to describe plastic to someone from the Middle
Ages.)

We go up the stairs and step inside to find a single large room, with a
vaulted ceiling.  Through the pillars we have clear views onto the lunar
landscape.  In the center, floating in the air, are ever-changing patterns
of light, symbols of some sort we don't recognise, arranged in great
circles.  The path leads through them.  On the other side, watching us and
the symbols, is a late middle-aged woman, in a flowing blue robe, very
dignified, perhaps regal, with dark hair.  She reminds us of someone we've
met, but we can't place exactly who.  She turns to Pyotr, who stares, picks
up his jaw, and finally stammers, "Mother?"  She smiles.  "Welcome, son, and
the rest of you.  Please, come in."

She tells Pyotr, "You have done well."  "Never said that before."  "I didn't
dare.  If you had started on the Path before the Mirror was broken, you
would have been swept up with all of the others."  "You knew Mirror was to
be broken?"  "I knew because I observed what was happening."  She gestures
at some of the symbols.  "Was already Moon then?"  "I've always been the
Moon.  I went to the world to fall in love and have you."

She goes on.  "You must understand not only each of our spheres, but how
each of us breaks the rules.  I can observe all and I am the only one who
can access directly the source of power.  I write the rules for its use, but
cannot use it myself.  And thus I may only work indirectly."  "Makes it
sound as if you have choice, of the Majors."  "Within a sphere of action, I
can do things, just like each of the Majors.  But I may not choose outside
that sphere; I may not choose to change that, and even within the sphere I
am constrained."  "So rules by which power is accessed includes rituals by
which gods are invoked."  "If the gods wish to share power, that definition
must be made."  "So, you know of corruption of Nature."  "Oh yes."  "Would
repair of such corruption be in your sphere, or would only way in which
corrupted power is accessed be in your sphere?"  "If a new technique for
ritual for access is required, I would generate that."  "Can old techniques
be invalidated?"  "I cannot do that."  "Who can?"  "You, the Minor Arcana
who have choice may, at the Choice, or if there is a conflict between two
powers that can't be resolved, two things that are done that are mutually
exclusive, then it falls to Judgment to do something, and typically he
removes both."

"Who began split of church to seven and two, from nine?"  "The argument was
that the worship of Order didn't really fit with the worship of Change, and
rather than simply use the same church on alternate weeks, those two of
Order set up their own church."  "Who said?  Whose argument?"  "A preacher
of the Church of Order."  "Never understood.  So black and white were seen
together even before they left nine?"  "They are the Order that bounds
Change."  "So, particular priest says this and convinces others, many
Others."  "The Church of Order was very comforting to those who had lost
people to war, and so on.  Since it seemed to do some good, none objected."
Pyotr says that the results seem to have since turned evil.  Paris objects
that some results are evil, but not all.  Sarik adds, "And if, in the next
Choice, people reinforce what has been done, then that is how things will
be, and I'll operate in that sphere as well."

Mia objects that the Devil isn't comforting.  Paris agrees, some of the
results have indeed been evil.  Sarik says the change from Nature to the
Devil happened while the Mirror was broken.

Rhori asks what the Choice was at the last Choice.  "The cards that you now
see."  Pyotr says, "Know that previous to that, were other cards in Majors
that were removed, like Zodiac, Elements, Dragons...."  "They were
rearranged into other cards."

Calais asks her to explain what she saw in the symbols that led her to know
the Mirror would be broken.  Was there a group or person responsible?  She
tries to explain, but it's hard.  She could see the power being gathered up
by "this one" (she again indicates a symbol).  It was growing and growing,
and to grow beyond a certain point things were going to have to break.  In
particular, they needed much much more time for themselves and not for
anyone else.  And that meant they had to eliminate the dwarves and break the
Mirror.  Why the dwarves?  The dwarves keep many things in smooth operation.
Without them, many things do not run evenly.  It is why so much of what you
see is out of balance.  "Is that why time runs differently between Tarot and
Torat?"  "Time runs differently in different places, but it was always kept
the same in Torat to match the other...tessera?"  Pyotr says we've heard
that term, and she nods.

Rhori asks about finding the Star.  She says we can go from here to the Star
or Sun, but only to one.  If we go to the Star, we'll have to find the route
from Torat to the Sun.  Just as this one (she indicates the same symbol as
before) blocked off the route between Torat and me, he will also have
blocked off the route from Torat to the Sun.

We opt for the Star, since we know of no other route at all to her except
via the demon-guarded Tower.  Sarik tells us, "Go out this way, follow the
stream down to the pool.  You will have to go through the tunnel, and
confront the beast at the back of your mind."

Alessandro asks if it is possible for Minors to understand the symbols.
"I understand that it is possible for Minors to learn much."  She adds that
for him to learn the symbols he would have to stay with her on the Moon for
some time.

Mia asks who is Dubious now.  Sarik points at the same cluster of symbols as
before and says it controls some of the powers of Dubious.  Paris asks if
that group has the powers of Parsinius.  No.  At some times some of the
powers of Parsinius were there, but they are not there now.  (Makes sense;
the White Church used to have the Chalice of Heaven.)

Paris asks if the Moon can do anything to let us recognise this symbol when
we encounter it.  "It's not quite that simple.  I make the rule, and then
you have to find the rule, and then you might not understand it once you
find it."

Mia asks who wrote the magic spells to begin with.  "I did."  Then why are
they named after people?  "Because various people ask me for them, and
depending on -- the phase of the moon? -- I may grant them."  She mentions
to Anton she sent him some spells for harmony and music, but it didn't reach
him.  (It's the book that got away with the teleporting goblin.)

Paris asks if the symbol for Cora currently has the symbol of Parsinius.
"Of course, there will be _some_ there.  Cora travels all over.  It's
difficult to maintain and keep operating an entire tessera.  One needs
someone whose job it is to fix things that break suddenly.  Without the
dwarves, Cora calls on these powers to fix specific things that she needs to
do."

Were there any negative aspects of the dwarves?  The Moon doesn't understand
the question.  We try a couple of analogies but get nowhere on this.

Mia asks if there's a water spell for armor that doesn't go away when you go
unconscious.  Sarik says she is wary of permanence; it's the sort of thing
that people eventually misuse.  Unbridled access to power is a disaster.

We ask which symbol is the Hierophant.  But he's not a god, so she doesn't
know him well enough to pick out based on just his title.  Paris notes that
some god Majors and non-god Majors are related, like Judgment and Justice.
"Ah, there are some of the Majors that different of the Minors become.
Justice is one that has never changed.  And yes, his brother is Judgment."
Are there any other Majors who are not gods, who have never changed?  "From
the time the gods were created.  The one who is Justice extends from that
time.  That's the only one I know of."

Calais asks if she knows the names of the gods, and particularly the white
god.  Rhori asks if it's Parsinius, but she believes they are very different
things.  She cannot give us a name, though.  Paris asks if the white god is
reversed, as Sarik at one point used the term "nature reversed" to describe
the Devil.  Sarik says that all the negative aspects of all the gods were
moved to that same cluster of symbols.

Pyotr asks about his father, and is told he was just a nondescript rainbow
priest, a Minor Arcana, who got sucked up when the Mirror broke.  Sarik
arranged for Pyotr to be caught by the Hanged Man.

Will we need you to write new rules for us to fix the Mirror?  "Where minors
are concerned, it is very difficult to complete the picture.  I don't know
what you'll need."  Can you help us find the pieces of the Mirror?  Yes, but
again, she can't just give that to us.  She'd have to write the spell and
put it out in the world somewhere, and we'd have to find and understand it.

Mia asks about the tests Pyotr talked about for getting into the priesthood.
Calais guesses it was just for Pyotr, to keep him from getting "onto the
Path" before the Mirror broke.  Sarik confirms this, but tells Pyotr, "And
yet, that knowledge, I knew would survive until the Church reappeared.  What
you were taught was what wouldn't otherwise survive."  She goes on, "There
must be entrance exams, to make sure that people speak well."  Mia objects,
"But there aren't."  Sarik indicates Pyotr and answers, "He can teach you."

Paris asks about the demon Maab Baal, who breaks the rule about demons being
controlled by their names.  "Sadly, that is one of the mistakes.  There must
be something at the upper end of power.  He is at the upper end of power,
and he was made too powerful.  He can kill whatever he faces.  That is why
he doesn't fear people knowing his name."

"Guards all paths to Tower, this demon, correct?"  She nods.  "Since we must
get to Tower, we must defeat demon, or... defeat might be strong word.  Has
no weakness, or none you can tell us of."  She nods again, repeating, "It
was a mistake; he is too powerful."

She confirms that Jarvon is still the Guardian of Air, Justinius.

We ask about the negatives being gathered to the Devil, and what this means
about the gods.  But none of us know fortune-telling (as opposed to
knowledge of Tarot), so we don't really know the concept of "reversed"
cards.  If we did, we'd feel that the reverses are sort of "washed out"
right now.

She says that the cluster of symbols includes the powers of death and of
earth, but not the sole power of earth.  Nor is the Devil the sole holder
of the power of fire.

Calais asks the party if there are any places where we're interested about
places of power, since that's something Sarik (or her elves) keeps track of.
This leads Mia to ask about the alternative quests we might have been given
if someone else had spoken to the giants.  Sarik has no clue about that.
Paris then asks her why the earth nodes are moving.  Sarik says it's
probably something being done by Dubious, but why he's doing it, she has no
idea.  Only the earth nodes are moving.  We try to determine if that is part
of what's increasing the power of the nasty symbols, but she's not big on
cause and effect.

Calais asks, "You break the rules by being able to write new ones, though
you cannot change those that already exist, right?"  She confirms this.  He
then asks her if she can tell us how the other gods are able to break the
rules.  She cannot, though she repeats that it is something we must
Understand.

Sarik again tells Pyotr she's very proud of what he's accomplished.  He
asks, "Know that gods are very much different from others.  But what of
child of god?  What am I?"  "You have choice.  You can be whoever you want
to be, now.  You know things that the others of now don't know.  You can be
immensely helpful to them.  You can choose not to.  Somehow that information
will find its way into the world again."  "What information?"  "The rituals.
The day-to-day life of the church, that made it enjoyable while I was
alive."  "Have tried to convey some of that.  Mostly have gotten people to
talk funny when around me.  Not entirely successful."  "But not entirely
unsuccessful, either."

As we prepare to leave, Pyotr hesitates, saying he intended to ask something
of the Moon before he knew she was his mother, so he's going to ask anyway.
Blue goddess, could he and the rest of us have her blessing?  She grants it,
saying, "Remember as you go through the cave, you have choice, you can
choose what to fight and how to fight it, and because you are minors, you
CAN defeat the beast at the back of the mind.  That's the best blessing I
can give you."

As we leave the Moon's palace, following the stream, we find we feel very
light, and our steps seem to take us further than we expect.  The stream
heads toward a cave.  We take a break for lunch, and even stop and sleep for
a time.  The sun is low in the sky, and isn't moving much.  Alessandro
collects some water from the stream; Rhori collects a pouch of moon dust.

The cave gets narrower and narrower until it's one person wide, then opens
up again into a chamber.  The chamber is filled wtih stalagmites.  The roof
is smooth and black.  The first stalagmite is completely transparent.
Frozen inside is Prince Martin, Silverlocke.  As we grow accustomed to the
gloom, we see a person inside each stalagmite.  We see Prince Louis.  And
Prince William.  We see others we recognise, and many we don't.  We see
Henri, but not Nicholas.  Given our experience with the Devil, Calais checks
to confirm that we each see the same people.

We hang onto Anton when we spot a stalagmite holding Cordelia.  We keep
following the stream.  Alessandro spots his father, but resists going to
him.

Toward the other end of the chamber we begin to see younger figures, then
children, and finally newborn babies.  But the earlier figures weren't
ordered strictly by age; some of the figures partway along were older than
the first ones we saw.

We come to a tunnel leading out of the chamber.  In the darkness beyond, we
hear a clicking noise.  Paris finds that her sword's light doesn't penetrate
into the darkness.  Since the stream is wide enough for two to walk abreast,
we pair up to enter the darkness: Rhori and Hobbes, Paris and Mia,
Alessandro and Anton, Calais and Pyotr.  The dog starts to growl.  Paris's
sword flashes blue, then white, then blue, then white...

Rhori explains to Hobbes that each of them will have to take care of himself
here.  He hopes this is right.

Rhori first thinks he sees a three-eyed horned thing like we saw at the city
of Calais.  Then he sees it's something a bit different, but still with eyes
on stalks and many limbs.  It reaches a claw out, grabbing everything in the
hex, and tries to squeeze.  Rhori opts not to resist, and soon concludes
that might've been a bad idea, as he takes 27 stun 8 body (normal damage).

Paris crowds into Mia's hex to get closer to Rhori, and Rhori tells Hobbes
to continue on.  But Hobbes attacks instead, and his claws skitter off the
creature's hard shell.  At speed 3, the claw squeezes again, for 26 and 6,
disrupting Rhori's attempt to take a recovery.

Paris goes to swing at the claw, but notices something odd.  She sees Rhori
being crushed, his armor splintering, and he's screaming in pain, but he's
holding perfectly still.  She doesn't want to enter Rhori's hex since that
would ruin his spells, but she moves forward to where she can see the body,
with Hobbes scrabbling on it.

Alessandro hits the claw with a bolt of flame, doing 9 points, but it does
not penetrate.  Paris swings at the joint, and hits.  The sword happens to
be glowing blue as it sinks in.  The sword catches a bit but she succeeds in
drawing it back out.  Rhori feels the pressure lessen a bit, and forces his
way out of the claw.

The other claw reaches for Paris, who tries to dive out the way, but she
fails and is grabbed.  Rhori spots a stinger in the thing's tail, and grabs
that firmly.  This puts the lobster side-on to Anton, who can't resist
firing off a lightning bolt.  There's the smell of roasted seafood.
Alessandro also tries to cast a spell, but fails.

Paris pushes her strength but doesn't quite get free.  Calais, having
already sheathed his sword, vaults over the wounded claw and tries to hit
the second claw's joint with a stiletto, but misses.  The claw squeezes
Paris but doesn't do much if any damage.  Calais notices that Paris seems to
be screaming in pain and looks about to be cut in two, but realises that
he's not feeling the pain he'd expect in that case.  Alessandro shoots a
firebolt past Calais's hand and into the claw-joint.

Segment 12, dex 0, the shape of the thing changes.  Rhori finds himself
holding something far more supple, but still with a stinger.  It's got four
round stubby legs, and is grasping Paris with a tentacle.  It has a horn on
its head that's dripping some sort of black ichor.

Segment 3, Paris manages to get free.  Rhori takes the tail and hauls the
beast back the way we came.  Calais, who was between the two tentacles,
dives down into the water as it passes overhead.  The beast flails behind
itself to try to hit Rhori, but misses.  Rhori reaches the end of the tunnel
that led into the cavern, gives a mighty heave and lobs the monster out into
the previous cavern.  In the lower gravity, he gets quite good distance.  It
flies over the shorter stalagmites, flailing madly, and finally comes down
among the taller ones, snapping several off as it lands.  The figures that
were in those stalagmites turn toward Rhori with red-glowing eyes, and start
walking toward him.  Rhori tells us to move it, and we hurry down the
cavern.  To Hobbes's disappointment, Paris remembers to grab the dog.

As we exit the cavern, the stream disappears and we find a glittery path,
with stars to the left, right, and above.  In the distance we can see the
moon and the earth again.  Someone tries to pick up some of the glitter, and
finds that the glittery bits are hard and fixed, but the blackness between
them is empty space.  We stop messing with it.

Paris remembers, belatedly, that she had wanted to ask the Moon why some of
her powers, which supposedly stem from the white god, manifest as a blue
glow.  Too late to ask now.

We follow the Milky Way, at one point noticing a darker region to one side
(the Magellanic Clouds?) that Anton's magic sight suggests is the path here
from the Tower.

We come to a pool of stars, where we find a very pregnant woman dressed in
violet.  She welcomes us.  Mia says, "Told you I could do it."  "I knew you
could."  She places her hand on Mia's stomach and blesses the child.

Next week we'll continue the chat with the Star, but for starters we get the
executive summary:  Her sphere is hope.  She has the ability to affect
everything, but in very indirect ways.  She can guide whether or not comets
appear in the sky, the position of planets, etc., to influence favorable or
unfavorable outcomes.

[Thoughts from Sheryl:  Sounds like influencing favourable or unfavourable
outcomes is a good candidate for how she breaks the rules within the rules.
:-)  Wonder what she was doing when the Mirror was broken.  Wonder if she's
willing to favour Martin over Louis.  Does she come into conflict with
Murphy over the dictatorship over Chance both seem to lay claim to?  Wonder
if she _knows_ what an individual hopes.]