Tarot Campaign

Interlude          Dungeon Difficulties

Dungeon.
As Paris left the training tent and set off on the trek back to the city of Dungeon, her mind whirled around, trying to deal with the fact that her comrades clearly intended to stay in this place for a week or more. What did this mean to the Quest? And to the dying Emperor?

Serious Paris spoke. "You are at least a month from Westmore, and it is at least a week from there to where Rhori heard of the orc city. If the Emperor is dying, it is at least six weeks before you could even get into the area. It is very difficult to believe that he is pining away and would die in six weeks and one day; he is either already dead or has six months to live."

Real Girl commented acidly, "Brillig would say, with folks like this it might be six hundred years. "

Serious answered, "Possibly, but all of them have mortal forms in Torat, which means that they can die here." Then she continued, "I should not hurry the Party away from Dungeon. They seem to have a purpose here. But -- is Dungeon where I ought to be staying.

Real Girl: "Well... the Party, our friends from childhood, volunteered to help Red and us on this assigned quest. It seems impolite (at best) to me to say 'Thanks, but your services are no longer required.' It should also be clear that you aren't going to find anyone here who knows more about the Tarot/Major Arcana than the folks we brought along. Certainly, that knowledge is something you should still expect to need."

Serious, softly: "But would our friends be happier without me? And more successful -- given my history of bad decisions? The only one who seems to want me around is Rhori -- and he has his ambivalent moments."

Real Girl, with amazement: "You? Needing to be wanted!?"

Serious was silent for long minutes. Then, almost inaudibly, "We are the same person. Paris."

After another pause, Serious started up briskly. "This does not answer the question of just what we will do here while the mages train and are trained. I can't demand to be trained with the count's knights as if this were Westmore. And I want to do, not sit around and wait. It is not obvious that one person riding off alone is more doomed to failure than six. What matters if I ride on ahead?"

Real Girl: "How many of the meetings with the Major Arcana could you have accomplished on your own? Yes, the Fool... but you couldn't have made it to meet the others without these people to help. So, if you are off to meet one of the Major Arcana, don't you think you might need help again? And, the High Priestess said she was the last to help you easily... implying that it will be more difficult in the future. Is 6 doomed to failure? You have no way of knowing, except that no one has pronounced doom. But six is all you have. (Well, maybe you can get a barbarian or two.)"

With exasperation tinged with sadness, Serious responded. "To be honest, I don't think the Party needs me to accomplish the Overall Quest of meeting the Major Arcana."

Slightly shocked and somewhat conciliatory, Real Girl interposed, "You and Rhori were instrumental in holding the line in the orc cavern, which was how you'd get the books. You were the anchor of the fight at the spring. And, more importantly, the Party forced you to consume a whole slew of cards because they thought that would improve their chances."

Serious: "Well -- Rhori forced the issue. I think, if the Party had been polled, some mages would have thought the points better spent elsewhere. After all, Brillig thought so. I think he only fed Paris cards because it was clear she was choosing Rhori's point of view over his even though both were equally valid. I thought that he'd understand that it would be almost impossible to make Rhori understand if I didn't choose his way when the two were both good choices. I didn't expect that Brillig would think that I'd forced his hand in offering me his cards as well. But his was a good argument. And, having agreed to accept one argument, how could I turn down the other if both were do-able? It would not have been fair."

Real Girl: "It is possible that the Party as a whole probably thinks that Paris has done just fine 'holding the line' and that Rhori was over-reacting when he insisted that you get better. You could have said that and turned him down."

Serious sighed. "You know he would not have understood that. It would have hurt him badly and still would not have resolved the problem of his unwillingness to fight next to me."

Real Girl, triumphantly. "Well now you certainly should feel enough obligation to know that you have to stick around and pay them back the cards you used! Do you think that is why Brillig kept ten cards packaged up and didn't use them. Does he have an innate understanding of combat?"

Serious: "As if Brillig couldn't use being faster himself? I was planning on saving for speed next. I had been listening to his opinions on that. That was why I didn't originally spend those last five we had. But then the opportunity arose to actually use them on someone else; how could I turn that down? I'd have saved again for becoming faster. Rhori just insisted on a different plan. And Paris benefits." There was a pause. "Yes, I cannot leave Dungeon without the others; they have put Paris seriously in their debt." Another pause. "And, well, actually, as Brillig is normally in the rear of the party, he seldom uses his speed. It is more important, my training at Westmore seemed to say, for the Party's front line to be faster than its opponents, if at all possible."

A much longer pause. Then Serious resumed the conversation. "From a practical point of view, six might be just as vulnerable as one. Six sets of skills offset the possibility that one can pass more unnoticed than six. Still, if Paris sets off by herself, it will be because (1) I do not believe the Party either wants or needs her, (2) I do not believe that she is of use in Dungeon and (3) we are convinced that I have already failed her personal quest."

Real Girl, shocked: "It would be suicide! That isn't allowed! Why do you think she has already failed her personal quest? Her prince said go find Strength and Justice...it seems to me you are halfway there!"

Serious, with a shrug: "I don't actually count Strength and Justice as Paris' personal quest. You know that. If we die, the Party will continue without us. I have confidence in that."

Real Girl, sub voce: "Rhori doesn't"

Serious, scarcely pausing: "After all they seem fated to meet all the Major Arcana in their Quest to save the world. I see the Quest of the Mirror/Keys of Tarot/Torat as The Primary Quest; Strength and Justice as an associated Secondary Quest (as would be the Quest to Save the Emperor); and What The Prince Wants Us to Know/Become as our own personal quest.

Real Girl, subdued and fading: "Oh.

For a moment, Paris' memory was filled with her Prince's face, the expressions he had showed her: joking, angry, proud, concerned. Concerned. Concerned.

Serious: "The secondaries are just part of the primary. I have confidence they will continue the Quest."

Real Girl, whispering: "But what chance have they to succeed -- without Paris or Rhori?"

After a few more moments of silence, Real Girl tried again. "The Emperor needs the orb and rod to exert himself against the Conqueror. How do you find them?"

Serious, with a trace of bitterness: "Ask the hermit." She paused. "I didn't think there was any question at this time of rescuing the Emperor. The Party has made it clear that the next steps were towards the Hermit and then the Emperor's regalia. I'm just thinking to gain some time on that by heading out ahead of the Party -- if it seems wise to leave Dungeon before the others."

Real Girl, quietly: "But you're not, are you? Going to leave by yourself."

Serious, shortly: "No, probably not."

Real Girl, heading off the depression that always seems associated with Serious twiddling her thumbs: "What does it mean that there are orcs in the plains down south? OK, yes, its bad, but what else?"

Serious, voice tightening. "If Anton had mentioned it earlier! Well... I had asked those same questions before we decided to go meet Baron Eastgate. He knew nothing and so I thought my worry was for naught." She sighed again. The two voices seem to join into one train of reasoning that Paris followed for a while.

"This question brings up in part the nature of the joining and disjoining of Tarot/Torat. If the mirror is the proper and natural analogy then, originally, the 'silver' between the sides may have been permeable and the 'breaking' of the mirror solidified it, preventing any cross-over between the worlds. Now the 'silver' is somehow becoming distorted and so permeability in places is reoccurring.

"If the original nature was One World and the mirror is the symbol of the breakage, then the tears ('scratches') are the place where the silver has disappeared and the two are one again. This is the glass analogy.

"What Anton saw with the hell hounds seems to indicate that perhaps a tapestry would be a better analogy, Tarot being the warp threads and Torat being the weft (or vice versa :-). And both together made the World. But, somehow, when the world was broken, part was restricted to the backside of the tapestry and part to the front. For a moment Paris contemplated in her mind's eye the tapestry that Lorraine had shown her, one of the class projects that the girls of the castle at Westmore had set aside to take up learning the arts of bandage-making and herbal compounds. Any good tapestry is quite as good on the back as on the front -- but the colours did appear different, Lorraine had shown her. As well, the picture was reversed, side to side.

"The question is, are all creatures supposed to have access to both sides (tapestry or glass analogies) and we must somehow come to terms with living with monsters, getting them under control, providing for their needs so that they no longer destroy us? OR is the mirror analogy correct, and we must find out how to make the silver impermeable to monsters again? Though that doesn't work with impermeability representing the breaking of the world, the break down of the natural condition." She gave a puzzled sigh.

"Permeability seems at least partly Right. If the Tarot and gods are part of Man's heritage, then having those that have been restricted to the other side of the mirror or tapestry back again seems Right. But how do we get them without also getting all the monsters?

"Well, if the organized monsters and fell creatures are only a casual nuisance when not organized -- i.e. if The Warlord is the ONLY real villain here -- perhaps getting permeability back isn't so odd? All we have to do is find The Emperor and get him to stop The Warlord. Which we already know we have to do. Could it be that simple? Doesn't seem likely.

"Doesn't make sense when Death, Judgment, The Tower, The Hanged Man, Temperance, Moon, Sun, and Star are all out there waiting in the wings, so saith the mages. None of those are 'wimpy' cards in the traditional deck."

Paris shook her head in bewilderment, thinking as she had so frequently, "I don't have enough information.

"As for the orcs.... (going back to the original 'minor' question :-) My current theory is that tears show up where there are Things of Power that have import to Tarot. The font's appearance may have been the first tear -- and orcs poured through devastating the areas around that cave (the swath west of Westmore). I suspect that there was/is something of import in the new city of Westmore which is why it came through its own tear.

"The Magician's pool may have generated the nearby tear from which a smaller band of orcs came through on that knoll. Or maybe they were just sent there via t-port from the Font cave. We just haven't seen enough 'tears' on the Torat side to really know.

"The bones of Etienne may have generated another small tear for the kobolds and troll.

"It may have been a tear the Fool saw near Fort Carcassonne. Which implies that there may be an artifact hidden near or in the Fort.

"Whatever is in the dungeon mound of Dungeon may have generated the tear to the north from which the weekly attacks come. Or merely the tear within the dungeon itself that allows in the monsters found therein. If the latter, then the orc armies may have come through the Font tear(s) and, once organized, are being sent around from west to north to try to secure the Dungeon tear.

"There may be an artifact provoking the orc occupation of the orc-controlled city Rhori described. Or that may merely represent the Warlord's first conquest after he emerged from the Font tear(s). Or there may be more northwesterly tears generated by who-knows-what artifacts through which the Warlord came and from which continue to come marauders.

"We have no idea if the tear that I hypothesize existed in the cave of the Font still exists. We've never gone back. It may be the source of the orc armies we skirted near Jouet -- or they may be coming down from the Warlord's northwest base. It is not clear that there is actually anyway to seal a tear once opened -- however, if anything could, I would expect the explosion of the Font would have.

"Under this theory, the volcano did represent a new tear. And it happened because an artifact of importance to the Tarot came to light. Given its timing, it is possible that the Party did set it off. Possibly something in the religious stuff -- given that it represents various Major Arcana. But, it's almost as likely, the 'next' room due to be discovered in the mountain/library holds the artifact. Not enough information. But that's my current theory."

Real Girl, tentatively: "The theory does not matter as much as what are we going to do about it? Our Prince's home, the kingdom's capital -- Pelier -- is now under attack. And they don't even believe in magic! What can we do? The quest is half over -- but only if Rhori can get back to Baron Ruby. Can you send him back?" Serious: "We have time and again reconsidered whether or no the Party should split up. Rhori himself may prove the most difficult roadblock in getting anyone to consider returning to Pelier, etc., albeit perhaps pointing out that the ability to make more rangers may prove a, ahem, godsend, in Pelier's time of need. He has said time and again that adventuring with Paris is what he wants, that it makes him feel like he is doing 'important stuff.' And we may need him too. Paris has never held a line by herself. No, I don't expect 'right answers'. Every choice is possible; some generate better endings than others. And I have no way of knowing what is the wisest course. Here again, if I leave the mages to train Dungeoneers, send Rhori back to Silverlocke (along with Brillig and, maybe Calais -- who's not likely to get the training he wants traveling with Paris -- if they so choose), and proceed myself north (with or without Brillig or Calais)..."

Real Girl interrupting with a gasp. "We would never send Calais that far away -- unless you did not expect to survive yourself! How can you be saying such things!?!"

Serious: "It might make sense from a strategy point-of-view. However, while it may or may not make sense to split off Rhori (he and Hobbes are the best scouts in the party, but he also has the tools to make more such super-scouts), losing all the advanced knowledges that we have, and the flexibility of different approaches to problems, would be strategically unsound."

Real Girl, with a great sigh: "This is another reason not to hasten off on your own. Six heads are better than one; six sets of skills provide more flexibility in solving whatever puzzles are necessary to reach each of the Major Arcana." Hopefully, "In some sense, if the group does anything resembling team-work, it might even count towards Paris' personal goal?"

Serious restrained a snort.

Real Girl: "In the interest of fairness, let's not write off the locals too quickly. Rhori tends to see lots of things as straight black and white... and it isn't always so. There are a lot of orcs attacking, and this seems the absolute best place to hold them. We have had the advantage of meeting some of the major Arcana, and gotten all our knowledge of the Tarot through the High Priestess' drink. From the sound of things, I'd guess that none of the locals got any cards with designs on them, only the blank silver cards, and a fair supply of books on rather practical matters. Beyond the arrival of the Emerald Baron and his men at arms, the area's had no support from down south. So, let's not discount them as being of no import to the overall salvation of the world. Of course, without spending a week doing some kind of training, the only thing any of the Party can spend cards on is getting tougher or faster or stronger, the way Paris did. We might need more than that going forward."

Serious: "You know I'm not writing off the locals. Paris told Rhori that she isn't willing to really make that decision without more information. Rhori was claiming that the Emerald Baron wouldn't listen -- but Paris is not so sure and still hopes to get some of his time (when there's not the pressure of an imminent attack) to explain in more detail what is Really Going On. Hopefully she can do well enough helping the Baron's men defend, that the Baron will be willing to listen in the way he might not now with an unproven irregular.

"It is clear that, without Dungeon, hordes would be pouring down the Rhone valley and Pelier would be besieged from yet another angle. So I do understand that Dungeon is doing Very, Very Well -- particularly with no news or more reinforcements from home.

"But Paris has already spent more than her share of cards on getting better. I don't see us spending more cards in training at Dungeon, not when the mages need so many cards to get further in their careers. And, yes, training the locals and getting training is the Very Best Thing our mage-friends can do. They have given their word. And the need here seems great. It still doesn't justify our doing nothing. I don't see us as being particular instrumental in the betterment of Dungeon, howsoever much we might like to be of use. The mages are clearly of more value here."

Real Girl: "That is part of the point. Success is going to require mages going forward (if the past is any indication), and our mages need time to get better. A week or two here will help them help you in the long run." She paused. "Could we earn more cards for the mages to study with if the rest of us went down into the dungeon?"

Serious, interrupting: "Or would that be putting 'they're Party members' up against 'take only what you've earned'? It wouldn't do to earn the cards and not be able to give them to the mages."

Real Girl, somewhat coyly: "Since they had given you some of their cards, and you are just giving them back, so to speak, will they turn black? I suppose the Duke's clerics debated the issue for him...."

Serious: "Well, I wish I'd been privy to what the Duke's clerics had to say." Less sharply, with some worry, "As it is, technically, none of the mages fed Paris cards. Rhori specifically borrowed cards from Hobbes. And Brillig had been sitting on his package of 10 for some while, as you say."

Real Girl, tentatively: "I suppose we could get each of the mages to give up one card 'to the Party' and then, if we go down into the dungeon without them, they might technically be part of the Party and can accept back from us more than they gave....."

Serious, gravely: "I'd count that as playing fast and loose with the rules, myself. Not a good idea."

The training tent long behind her and as well, the passage through the magic ward into the town, Paris made her way to the Keep of Dungeon to present her letter of introduction.

The keep was a modest stone fortress built in the center of town at the junction of two streams. The weathered grey stone came from these rivers, which formed a natural moat on two of the five sides of the keep wall. Throughout the gate and along the wall were banners with a single lion; the soldiers thereupon were regulars all, no irregulars in sight. The guard at the gate nodded as Paris explained her letter and wish to see the librarian. "Right," he said after a moment, and gestured to a clerk at the gate. "Leave your sword with him, and I'll get someone to show you the way." [It seems that only regulars (and visiting nobles, knights, etc.) are allowed to carry weapons inside the keep proper. Based on what you know of the law, this is entirely proper and reasonable behavior for the local Count.]

Paris paused for a moment then answered steadily and politely. "I shall not so trouble you. I am under orders from Prince William never to go unarmed, so I fear that I cannot enter this keep. No offense intended to you, your lord, or the customs of this place."

The gate guard looks a little puzzled, but just shrugged and let Paris go.

[The issue, FYI, is that the librarian is inside the central keep of the Count and his family. At Pelier, it was outside that keep, so the issue didn't come up. And, in Westmore, the Duke's new armor sort of means he's not worried about such things. :) As Mike noted once, the right to bear arms and use your boss' name is a perk, and normally you pay points for that. And there is one more little thing that the party may or may not come across... :)]

Paris sighed as she turned away from the Keep. Clearly the Prince's name had carried her along far longer than she should hope for. But his orders were explicit: don't allow any one to take the badge, and go armed as long as you wear the badge. She couldn't expect anyone this far from him to treat a mere student as a full-fledged knight who could be allowed to carry a sword. This wasn't a matter of learning to behave like a lord. The other students in her class were lords and were not allowed to wear swords. She was the exception even there. But, given that she'd even learned to dance wearing the thing, she couldn't simply put it aside on a lesser (than the prince) lord's say so. And she -- with no reputation - could not expect to be allowed into said lord's presence wearing said sword for the purpose of explaining why she should be allowed to wear the sword. [It's a catch-22 and she understands and takes it with good grace, I think.]

Paris considered as she walked away from the count's Keep. She could write the librarian and arrange an interview. She should go find Anton and ask if he would consider coming with her to interview the librarian. Chances are that she would never be allowed into the Keep -- but Anton had no such badge-oriented point of honour to restrict him -- and he'd be better able to read the "book of bad recipes" anyway. If she introduced him to the librarian then, hopefully, the influence of her letter of introduction would pass over to him. Yes, Claire and Mia could also come -- but they both had "teacher" and were likely to be wanted elsewhere; Anton was free.

Paris returned to the inn and composed a letter to the librarian explaining her letter of introduction and her being on a mission for Prince William, her desire to learn more from or about the books of liberation, and inviting him to meet her outside the keep at a bakery she'd noticed nearby, if convenient for him.

The Librarian responded, and arranged to meet Paris tomorrow afternoon, after the fight at the wall.

When Anton was telling what he learned in the count's library -- Paris noted that Anton described only two "liberation books." Paris commented, "The librarian of Lion led me to believe that he had sent three books to his cousin up here. One book was the catalogue of all things "liberated" when the Duke of Lions assumed his place in that city. The other two books were among the things listed in that catalogue. I thought I had mentioned this when we spoke about these books back in Lions."

"One of those liberated books was described as a 'book of bad recipes' which Anton seems to have seen. The other was described as a 'geography of some place fanciful.' I want to know, if possible, what has become of that book, as it seems possible that it is related to our questing."

"I was hoping that there might be more modern geographies as well by people who had traveled further north and come back to Dungeon. But -- if the liberation-geography is to be found, it may prove as interesting to us as the book of the Know Men did back in Lions."

Anton: "Hmm, I heard the Librarian talking only about the two books you mention. I'll ask the Librarian about the third book when I go back next day; it does sound useful."

[There was some discussion about the geography afterwards. Don's recollection is generally correct. What led to the confusion is (as you will find out next episode :) ) is that the geography, a much smaller book, was bound in with the catalog of liberation. [As I'm sure you know, often multiple books were bound together... not something that would occur to most of the characters to check, though.] I figured that once Anton saw that the recipes were indeed spells, that would attract much more of his attention. In the discussion that followed someone (I thought it was you) mentioned the geography, and he agreed to go look for it the next time.]

Given that Paris was pretty much at loose ends during the week... [even if Rhori's insistence at practicing with her in the training grounds doesn't end up with her practicing with a lot of the better fighters....) I figured that there would be an opportunity. I trust you for that. :-)] ... she would have plenty of time to consider the notion of 'in confidence.'

[GM: Paris isn't very good at disguise, is she? :)] [S: It's Calais who paid the points. ]

Paris would think it important to try to see Baron Emerald again to clear up a minor matter.

[Hmmm. I'm not sure there was an opportunity to do this, unless you want to "come out" to the captain, lieutenants, etc. However, if you are in and about town for a week, there ought to be a chance.]

"Sir, I have something to tell you in confidence," Paris said, the slight emphasis an acknowledgment of the confidence he had earlier given the Party. "If my quest is successful and Prince William is able to expand the size of our Order, I would not want you to think that I deceived you."

[Hopefully the baron would have cleared out at least some of his staff during that speech, but, whether or no, Paris has made up her mind that it is not necessary to deceive this man; she is not actually under orders to deceive him.]

"Although I do not think it will make a difference to the service I can render you as a soldier and as a member of my Order, I think it only fair to tell you that I am traveling somewhat under disguise." She hesitated. "Because I am under orders from Prince William to always go armed, it seemed best to practice this deception." She smiled wryly then said, in a low tone but with dignity, looking him in the eye. "My brother has no brother, sir."

Paris should have the books of history and law memorized by the time the Party leaves Dungeon. :-)

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