The Duchy is buzzing with rumors about the disappearance of High King David, who vanished and was presumable kidnapped or murdered while on a royal visit to the Kingdom of Willows (southeastern U.S.). His new bride, High Queen Faerilyth, has claimed the throne for herself as has Queen Morwen, High King David's sister. The changeling community is quickly forming factions around these two claimants. It is rumored that Shadow Court forces are responsible for the disappearance of the King, as the unseelie King Meilge of Willows, Queen Faerilyth's former guardian, was hosting the royal couple when the High King dropped from sight. There are many other rumors making the circuit, but no one has put forth any proof to back up any of them. Lorien, who as a Knight of the Unbroken Circle is personally sworn to High King David, has left the Duchy to join the search for the King.
Leonardo diCaprio has been in the entertainment news lately. He has been frantically working on what he says will be his magnum opus, a film rumored to be called "The Queen of Air and Darkness". He is the writer/director/star, and is financing the movie himself. He is reported to be quite absorbed in the project and has not been very accessible to the press, prompting more than the usual strings of rumors.
While waiting for Court, our heroes try to tie up loose ends. Edward and Erendil take a look at the items they appropriated from the treasure room of Moria. Both found dross worth a bit over $500 each, and both came away with several intriguing items. Erendil has a silver ring with a square cut ruby and runes around the band. He cannot identify the runes and takes the ring to Dr. Basil Phineas, the sluagh scholar who assisted in the hunt for Ankou, for help. Dr. Phineas identifies the runes as Fomorian, and says that the ring is enchanted with a Contempt cantrip. He does not know which one. Erendil takes the item to Baron Carnelian, who identifies the cantrip as one known as "Devil’s Advocate", which allows the caster to compel the target to perform one act and then forget about it. Erendil also has several little bottles filled with a dark ruby-colored liquid. He recognizes it as "blood dross", the blood of a Malkavian vampire transformed into dross. It can be useful in powering particularly nasty cantrips. Erendil also has a fairly common freehold compass, which, as its name implies, directs travelers to freeholds.
Edward has something that looks like a golden, scarab-type bug. He identifies it as a minor treasure built by nockers. It disrupts mechanical and electronic devices when placed on such. Edward also has a Sony Walkman that, he determines after some experimentation, plays the background music for the scene the listener is in. For example, a person listening to the walkman who is being followed would here the appropriate background music, and be clued into the presence of the follower. He gives this to Chamone, who replaces her mundane walkman with it. Edward has small notebook with one page of goblin parchment in it. He knows that goblin parchment erases itself after the intended recipient of the message has read it, but he doesn’t know anything else about the notebook itself.
Toby managed to find one thing for himself in Moria. He has a ring engraved with the words "Ring of Wind Summoning copyright 1982 TSR Inc." First he tastes it. That tells him nothing, so he puts it on his finger. He immediately begins to feel a cramping feeling in his intestinal tract. Within a minute or so, pressure begins to build at the output sites of his digestive tract and gas begins to force its way out through the usual routes. Toby finds this unpleasant and begins to whine "Toby dying! Toby dying!" Sir Pensius joins Toby, Erendil, Franklin and Edward in the kitchen as the commotion starts. "What are you doing, Toby?" he asks "Nothing…" says Toby, trying to appear innocent. This doesn’t last long as it quickly becomes obvious that something is very wrong with Toby. Franklin and Pensius drag the frantic Toby out of doors. Franklin attempts to pull the ring off Toby's finger, but only seems to make things worse as pulling the wearer's finger appears to make the device work even better. After much struggling, the ring is removed and Toby's digestive tract returns to normal, whatever that means for a redcap. Pensius asks Toby to give him the ring. Toby protests. Erendil says he should keep it. Toby says, "Toby will only use his powers for good". Pensius casts a Fugue cantrip on Toby to make him forget about the ring. The cantrip is successful for the moment.
While Pensius and Franklin were busy with Toby, Edward takes the opportunity to pull a little prank. He races down to the nearest pay phone and calls the house. When Franklin answers the phone, Edward disguises his voice and says he is an agent of the Environmental Protection Agency, and that the agency has received reports of a toxic leak or spill. Franklin is fooled by this call and asks Sir Pensius to come to the phone and take the call. Pensius is a bit harder to fool, and Edward has to talk a bit faster with him. When Edward gives a fake chemical as the type of spill, (what exactly did Edward say, Bill?) Pensius begins to suspect that the call is not what it seems. Edward quickly hangs up and races to the house, looking innocent when he arrives there. Toby, tires after his ordeal, asks for something to drink. Edward (Erendil?), who has been preparing for just such an occasion, gives Toby kraut juice in a beer bottle. Toby projectile vomits it at Edward’s truck, causing a big dent. Edward gives Toby canned cheap American beer, warning Toby of the dangers of "that awful German stuff in bottles". Toby agrees, "Beer no good in bottles, only cans."
Jenny goes to Coral Cove to see if she can aid the physicians in healing the battle casualties using the power of her enchanted guitar. She plays for the injured warriors, but does not have much success at healing them. Jenny gives the preserved skull, scalp, and neckbones of Ankou to Sir Gwynn, the Court Chatelaine, for award during the court. The scalp has been crafted into a scabbard for Jenny’s blade, and the neckbones were sewn onto a (fill this in, Allison) for Franklin.
Meanwhile, Chamone continues to research the problem of Tormentil's suspected support of Charles Roanoke, the professional de-bunker who wrecked Pensius's service a few days ago. She believes that the file she is looking for may be in Sir Armand's private office, and tries to sneak in. She is unsuccessful, but vows to try again. She contacts Lady Tourmaline for advice. Tourmaline says she will help Chamone get into Armand’s office after Court.
Sir Pensius endeavors to find out what has happened to the parishioners he lost after Roanoke disrupted his preaching. He visits the home of one of his most fervent followers, who has apparently been afflicted with advanced mundanity. The parishioner tells Pensius that he has been too busy doing his taxes to go to sermons. Pensius notices that all the new-age knick-knacks in his living room have been sorted by size, color, and category and placed in neat rows. He shivers at the surge of banality he feels and thinks he knows what is going on now. He believes he read somewhere that the Technocracy, an organization of extremely banal mages who control the development of new technology for the masses, create patterns like the ones he is seeing in this man's house. Pensius leaves vowing to track down the Technocracy and unravel their plot. He also notices that several of his adherent’s homes look like they have been abandoned for a week, with piled up mail and newspapers on the front steps.
Jenny is called to an audience with Duke Valerian. She attends him in his office, which has, among other junk scattered throughout the room, a surfboard, a tiki mug, and a lime green G4 Macintosh. He tells her that he would like to knight her at the Court next week. He feels that she has earned the title of knight-errant due to her bravery in this and other battles in the Duchy over the last few months. As she is commoner and unseelie, he wanted to make sure that the offer would be wanted and accepted by her in advance, so as not to embarrass her or him with a refusal at the Court itself. The one to be knighted must also swear personal fealty to the Duke, so it is not a step to be taken lightly. Jenny decides to accept, to the Duke's delight. He also makes the same offer to Franklin, who accepts and is greatly honored.
Erendil and Edward are also called upon to visit the Duke. This visit is a bit different. Since it is not known that they were working for the Duke when they were in Moria, they pretend that they are present for a dressing down and act appropriately snotty. Toby stows away in Edward's pickup truck. Edward tries to shake him up by driving like a maniac, but Toby hangs on and enjoys the wild ride.
When Edward and Erendil arrive at the Duke's freehold, they encounter Lady Tourmaline, who as usual manages to enthrall Toby by her mere presence. She takes Toby and gives him an indestructible puzzle to play with (actually a dog toy, but no one tells Toby that) as Edward and Erendil enter the Duke's presence. The Duke tells them how important they were to the overall effort, and greatly praises their actions. He also delivers on the promised loot. Erendil gets a pair of chimerical antler tips for Giselle, which will act as weapons of considerable effectivess and force. Erendil gets a very nifty sword that will make him a bit faster in battle and cut through anything, even wards. Edward gets a stash of the Duke's own special pot blend, which when smoked allows the user to see into the Dreaming and interact with ghosts, spirits, and such. The Duke has also opened a special anonymous account at the Isher Weapons shop to add "improvements" to Edward’s pickup truck. Both Erendil and Edward are impressed with the Duke's rewards and with the fact that he does not seem to have a three-foot rod up his ass like most seelie sidhe. They leave to play with their loot, but not before Erendil asks the Duke what seeing a red star deep in the Dreaming forebodes. The Duke gives Erendil a long look and says he doesn’t know. Erendil and Edward leave the office as if they had just been royally chewed out to keep their cover story going. Erendil grabs Toby by the collar and exits in a huff, with Edward close behind.
Edward and Erendil both go to the Isher Weapons shop, where Erendil
commissions a fancy suit of light armor and Edward looks through Boom-Boom's
catalogs for ideas for his pickup. Boom-Boom tells Edward that there are
even more nifty ideas on her web site, and Edward tells himself to consult
Chamone about accessing this web site later on.
Erendil asks Boom-Boom if she has anything for protection from Thallain.
Boom-Boom gives him a "You must be the dumbest sidhe alive" look and tells
him she is sold out. "You know, the Battle of Moria? Hello!" Erendil covers
up his faux pas as best he can.
Meanwhile, Sir Pensius calls upon Lady Tourmaline for help trying to solve the puzzle of his missing parishioners. He tells her his theory about the Technocracy, which by now has begun to sound like the ramblings of a crazed UFO cultist (hey, wait a minute…). She thinks he may be suffering from Bedlam from staying in his freehold for too long. She brings him down to Crystal Cove to see a healer (although she doesn’t let on that she thinks he’s out of his mind). The healer can’t find anything wrong with him so Tourmaline figures she will find out what’s going on with Pensius after Court.
Chamone prepares for Court by dressing in what she thinks is appropriate attire for her new wilder status. She misses the mark just a bit, not quite finding the right balance of courtliness and seductiveness. Joshua, her escort and self-appointed bodyguard, is enchanted with her anyway. Toby decides to wear what can only be described as a Buster Brown outfit, complete with a round little hat. The effect paired with his toothsome smile is truly terrifying. Toby meets up with Chamone outside the Hall where Court is to be held, and, snubbing Joshua, offers his arm to escort Chamone into the Hall. Chamone tells Joshua that she forgot that she had a previous date for the event, and apologizes. Joshua stays in close proximity to Chamone for the rest of the evening, just in case she should need him. He gives Toby fierce troll glances, which Toby ignores.
Edward shows up in full Native American regalia, and offers Count Tormentil a peace pipe to smoke. He cautiously puffs on it, waiting for the inevitable explosion. When none happens, he concludes that Edward wants to embarrass him by getting him to overreact, so he plays it cool. Erendil stumbles in looking disheveled and stinking of booze, hanging on Giselle to keep from falling down. He thoroughly disgusts all present, particularly Ariel, who he makes a point of very publicly addressing. Jenny arrives in a topless henna number designed by Zenobia, her eshu fashion consultant. It is fairly scandalous but she receives more admiring glances that shocked ones.
The attendees mingle in the reception area prior to the start of Court. Several of our heroes notice a sidhe noble of House Dougal who they do not know. She appears to be in early grumpdom as her black hair is streaked with silver and is worn up in a knot. She wears the House Dougal colors of gold, red, and black and does not carry a blade. She appears to have an entourage composed of two sidhe knights, a sluagh councilor, and a very, very large troll bodyguard. Gossiping with the rest of the attendees reveals nothing more than unreliable speculation about her identity and purpose.
Court is now called to order. Sir Gwynn taps his staff against the floor three times and casts a Protocol cantrip. Those who are sensitive to the ways of glamour can tell that it does not take hold well. Another Protocol cantrip settles over the crowd, undoing the previous one and establishing a much more secure environment. No one can tell who cast this one. The Duke and Queen Aeron enter the chamber, taking their places on the dais in the thrones set out for them.
Before Court officially begins, Baron Carnelian asks to speak to
the Court. He
most emphatically protests the uncalled for and brutal slaughter
of the denizens of Moria. They were killed because they were unseelie,
no trials were held and no justice was given. He questions what seelie
rule is for if they will not even uphold their own laws. He declares that
he will not attend a Court dedicated to genocide and stalks out.
After a moment of not-exactly-shocked silence, the Duke addresses the assembly:
"Please be welcome to my court, people of Cambria. We have gathered together this day to pay homage to those brave warriors of Concordia who undertook, under extreme adversity. To make this Duchy safe for both the fae and the dreamers who we rely upon and protect. For make no mistake, the destruction of Moria and the ravagers who dwelled there was not a battle of seelie vs. unseelie, or nobles vs. commoners. Rather it was a struggle between those who would follow the Escheat and protect the dreamers of this land, and those who would violate our most sacred laws and selfishly harvest glamour for their own, dark purposes, leaving the Waking World growing colder every day. They take what they want without regard for the mortals we inspire and protect."
"It is well known now, I believe, that Moria harbored veritable hoards of dark thallain from the blackest heart of the Dreaming. I don’t have to tell those of you who faced the fangs, claws, and swords of the goblins, bogies, beasties, and ogres in Moria that these deadly foes had to be driven from our Duchy. Despite overwhelming odds, you faced the terrifying evil of these monsters and prevailed, You have proven that true hearts and sure arms will win out over the forces of Darkness and Winter as long as any stalwart fae of Cambria still stands!"
"People of Cambria, Your Majesty Queen Aeron, I give you the heroes of the Battle of Moria!"
Duke Valerian calls out the names of those who participated in the battle. As they approach the Duke one at a time, they kneel to receive a medallion that the Duke places around their necks. The Duke says a brief word to each honoree.
"Join me in acclaiming your friends, neighbors, and kinfolk!"
"I would like to single out several Kithain whose individual actions saved lives and defeated terrible foes, and without whom we would not have prevailed that dark and dangerous day."
"First, those whose sorcerous skills allowed us to mount our assault on multiple fronts and ensured that no evil escaped to sow destruction on another day:
"Lady Tourmaline ap Eiluned, Order of the Crystal Circle"
"Baroness Chamone ap Eiluned"
"Sir Pensius ap Liam of Starry Wisdom Temple"
More names are called. The Duke hands out more medallions to these honorees. The Duke lingers a bit longer with Lady Tourmaline.
"Next, those brave knights and warriors whose skill with arms conquered the terrible ogre hag Black Annis and slew the deadly basilisk. And also those whom, by their adherence to the Escheat and the principles of mercy, compassion, and belief in the ability of evil to reform saved more lives than they took:
"Sir Pensius ap Liam of Starry Wisdom Temple"
"Sir Lorien ap Scathach, Knight of the Unbroken Circle"
"Count Tormentil ap Gwydion of Fairbanks"
"Lady Rowan ap Fiona, Heir to the Duchy of Cambria"
"Baron Marcus of the Borderlands"
The Duke finishes the list of honorees, and gives them tokens of his admiration when they come forward to be recognized.
"And finally, when the forces of Cambria were focusing all their efforts in preparing to end the menace of Moria for all time, several brave denizens of our duchy undertook to find and slay a singular evil that had invaded our lands. You have all heard of the ritual murders of several of our comrades, including the eshu Vance, the Lady Ash, Sir Reginald, and Lord Veras by some unknown force. The following citizens of Cambria tracked this formorian-tainted sorcerer down, hunted him through Moria where he made his lair, following him there in the midst of the battle, and slew him, ending his centuries-old evil for good. People of Cambria, I give you the Slayers of Ankou:
"Jenny Nettles of Starry Wisdom Temple"
"Franklin, retainer to Sir Pensius ap Liam of Starry Wisdom Temple"
"Dr. Basil Phineas"
"Before I reward these three before me, I would also like to publicly
acknowledge And reward the band who traveled with them through Moria and
rendered them aid."
"Sir Verlayne"
"Lady Olive ap Dougal"
"Edward Gray Wolf of Starry Wisdom Temple
"Baroness Chamone ap Eiluned"
"Companion Giselle and Lord Erendil of Misthold Vale"
The Duke calls out the names, but skips rather quickly past Erendil and Edward. He calls forth Jenny.
"Jenny Nettles, it is my wish to make you a Knight-Errant of Pacifica and a sworn vassal to me. Do you agree to take on these responsibilities?"
Jenny: "I do."
Valerian: "Then repeat after me:
I swear fealty to you, Lord
Your command is my desire and your request my desire.
May my service always please, and may my sight grow dark if it does
not.
As the tides to the moon, my will to your, my liege."
Jenny repeats
Valerian: "I take you as my vassal. You are of my home, even as the
very stones
I pledge to hold you, to guard you, and to keep you.
I pledge to honor your service as it deserves, and to reward loyalty
in kind.
As the moon to the seas below, my will to yours. I pledge the Escheat
to you."
He calls Franklin up and does the same ceremony for him.
He gives Jenny and Franklin tokens and knights them. He gives Phineas the Order of the Laurel for scholarship, as Phineas wishes to remain a commoner.
He presents Jenny with the scabbard, Phineas with the skull, Franklin with the armor piece. There is much oohing and aahing.
Duke Valerian again thanks the Duchy for their support, and introduces Queen Aeron,
Now Queen Aeron rises to speak:
"People of Cambria, you are truly fortunate to have a Duke such as Valerian, the Marshall of Pacifica, to rule over you. He, and the people of Cambria, have earned my Royal Favor by eliminating a fell threat to the Dreaming. I can only echo what your Duke has said when I say thank you, from the bottom of my heart, for your bravery, strength, persistence, and martial skills that has made this Duchy and Kingdom a safer place to live for both the fae and the mortals we rely upon for our very existence. Without your courageous actions Winter would have crept even closer to our balefire hearths, even closer to our valiant hearths. I wish I could count on every Duchy as I can this one. I know that with Cambria guarding my southern border I need not worry for the safety and security of my Kingdom."
"I have another purpose here, one I shall reveal to you in a few moments. But first, I would like to introduce to you a new citizen of Cambria, Countess Leona. I am sure you will all join me and your Duke in welcoming Countess Leona to Cambria, where she has been appointed to serve as Countess of Easthold."
All eyes turn to the mysterious stranger in the colors of House Dougal. She bows briefly to the assembly and the Queen. The Duke does not look surprised, but many of the assembly, including some very high ranking nobles, do.
Queen Aeron continues. "I am sure you have all heard of the disappearance of High King David, and share my concern for his well being as well as that of Concordia. I can tell you that we now have reason to believe that the Shadow Court may have played a major role in his abduction. This will come as no surprise to you, the good people of Cambria, whose seelie ranks have long fought against this menace. We can only hope that the forces hunting for High King David will find him and rescue our lands from the chaos and uncertainty which thrives in these unsettled times."
"Many of you are aware that Faerilyth, High King David’s bride, has claimed the throne of Concordia for herself. Queen Morwen, David’s sister and Regent, has answered this by pledging to follow the wishes of her brother and take the reins of government in hand herself. Many in Concordia are uncertain whom to follow in these perilous times."
"As ruler of Pacifica, I feel I must provide the leadership needed to make sure my people are not lead astray by usurpers and plotters influenced by unseelie forces within the Kingdom. Therefore, I am publicly pledging my support to Queen Morwen, Regent of Concordia and Guardian to the Princess Lenore, declared heir of Concordia."
Duke Valerian look visibly surprised by this but covers it quickly.
"Queen Morwen needs our support in these dangerous times, when claimants backed by unseelie plotters try to take the throne for themselves. These unseelie seek to use the advantage they have gained by eliminating the High King to place their own puppet on the throne. Well, the might of Pacifica will not stand by and watch this happen." Her voice grows colder and louder. " Accordingly, I have made the following decrees:"
"Pacifica formally declares for Queen Morwen. We will provide arms, fighters, and glamour to uphold her claim and help her keep the throne safe for High King David’s return. We pledge our best knights to search for David. We will not sit back passively and wait for news. All those able to lend their skills and powers to the search must do so."
"We will no longer tolerate the Shadow Court influence within our Kingdom, particularly within the noble houses of the sidhe. In the following weeks I will be issuing decrees aimed at exposing these hidden plotters and destroying their schemes once and for all. This is not a so-called "witch-hunt" for unseelie. Unseelie denizens of Pacifica free of the taint of the Shadow Court do not have to be concerned about their lives and liberty. Only the guilty will be punished. I know I can rely on the good people of Pacifica to assist me in exposing these schemers once and for all. If we are going to find High King David and restore him to his throne, we must eliminate those forces here at home who seek to undermine our efforts. I warn you, hard times may be ahead for all of us. But by pulling together and supporting Queen Morwen we have the best chance at a happy outcome for all of us."
As the Queen ends there is dead silence in the room. She sits down
and looks at Valerian, who seems stunned. Suddenly the sound of one person
loudly, slowly clapping breaks the silence as Jenny finds a way to show
her disdain within the strictures of the Protocol cantrip. The tableau
holds as we end the story for this month.
